{"id":4955,"date":"2021-10-20T14:40:47","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T12:40:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/?p=4955"},"modified":"2025-07-03T18:48:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T16:48:58","slug":"expression-eng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/expression-eng\/","title":{"rendered":"Expression"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXPRESSION<\/span><\/h1>\n

In Aristotelian rhetorical and critical theory, the term expression<\/em> has three distinct meanings.<\/p>\n

1. A linguistic paralogism<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the Sophistical Refutations<\/em>, the term \u201cparalogisms of expression\u201d refers to the six \u201clanguage-related\u201d paralogisms.<\/p>\n

Homonymy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Composition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Accent<\/span>
\nAmphiboly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Division\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Expression.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 see fallacy (2): Aristotle basic list.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This label can also be used to refer specifically to the paralogism of homonymy.<\/p>\n

2. Pseudo-Deduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

A passage is said to be fallacious by expression when although it is formally expressed as a demonstration, it has no demonstrative content. For example, speech may take the form of a demonstration, if the speaker introduces a large number of argumentative indicators. If there is no semantic connection between the connected propositions A<\/strong> and B<\/strong>, the argument \u201cA<\/strong>, therefore B<\/strong>\u201d is fallacious due to the \u201cform of the expression<\/em>\u201d. This is because no syllogistic process can occurr, or in other words, no real argumentation has taken place (Rhet<\/em>., II, 24, 1401a1; Freese, p. 325).<\/p>\n

Such examples can sometimes be found in academic essays that overload the text with argument indicators, in the hope that an argument will eventually emerge. Pangloss’s discourse, railed against by Voltaire in Candide<\/em>, is of that kind.<\/p>\n

[After the earthquake that devastated Lisbon<\/em>]<\/span>
\nSome [citizens] whom they had succored, gave them as good a dinner as they could in such disastrous circumstances; true, the repast was mournful, and the company moistened their bread with tears; but Pangloss consoled them, assuring them that things could not be otherwise. \u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201call that is for the best. If there is a volcano in Lisbon it cannot be elsewhere. It is impossible that things should be other than they are; for everything is right.<\/span>
\nVoltaire, Candide, or The Optimism<\/em>. [1759].[1]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Misleading Expressions<\/span><\/h2>\n

In Aristotle’s Sophistical Refutations<\/em>, the fallacy of \u201cform of expression\u201d is also called the fallacy of \u201cform of discourse\u201d, as well as a \u201cfigure of discourse\u201d, a label that is likely to cause considerable confusion. The fallacy of form of expression corresponds exactly to the phenomenon that analytic philosophers discuss under the heading of misleading expressions<\/em>.<\/p>\n

According to Ryle, for example, a statement such as \u201cJones hates the thought of \u200b\u200bgoing to the hospital<\/em>\u201d (1932, p. 161) suggests that the phrase \u201cthe thought of going to the hospital<\/em>\u201d refers to some existing object. This expression induces a belief in the existence of \u201c\u2018ideas,\u2019 \u2018conceptions,\u2019 \u2018thoughts\u2019 or \u2018judgments\u2019\u201d (ibid.<\/em>). To eliminate such non-existent entities, Ryles believes that the statement must be rewritten to correspond to its semantic-ontological reality: \u201cJones feels distressed ,when he thinks of what he will undergo if he goes to the hospital<\/em>\u201d (ibid<\/em>.). This new formulation should contain no reference to deceptive entities such as \u201cthe idea of \u200b\u200bgoing to the hospital<\/em>\u201d (ibid<\/em>.).<\/p>\n

Analytic philosophy has devoted considerable effort to studying misleading expressions as expressions that create non-existent problems, as seen in the previous case, or as expressions that are superficially similar but have a very different\u00a0semantic structure is, as in the following examples.<\/p>\n

\u2014 According to Austin’s analysis (1962), descriptive and performative statements have the same superficial grammatical structure but different meanings and references. The former refer to states of the world, while the latter produce the reality they describe.<\/p>\n

\u2014 The statements \u201cthe path is stony and steep<\/em>\u201d and \u201cthe flag is red and black<\/em>\u201d are syntactically analogous. However, one can infer from the first\u00a0 statement that \u201cthe path is stony<\/em>\u201d and that \u201cthe path is steep<\/em>\u201d, but not from the second statement that \u201cthe<\/em> flag is red<\/em>\u201d and \u201cthe flag is black<\/em>\u201d. The fallacies of composition and division<\/a> can be seen as a special cases of the fallacy of the form of expression.<\/p>\n

\u2014 The similarity of superficial linguistic forms, can lead us to incorrectly characterize a word’s meaning. For example, suffering<\/em> and running<\/em> are syntactically, intransitive verbs. From this analogy, one might incorrectly assume that, suffering<\/em>, like running<\/em>, expresses an action.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0The arguments drawn from derived words<\/a> might also be criticized as cases of fallacies of expression.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Quoted from Voltaire, Candide<\/em>, Chapter V. New York, Boni and Liveright, 1918. No pag. https:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/candide19942gut\/19942.txt<\/a>. Accessed August 11, 2017).<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EXPRESSION In Aristotelian rhetorical and critical theory, the term expression has three distinct meanings. 1. A linguistic paralogism In the Sophistical Refutations, the term \u201cparalogisms of expression\u201d refers to the six \u201clanguage-related\u201d paralogisms. Homonymy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Composition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Accent Amphiboly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Division\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Expression.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 see fallacy (2): Aristotle basic list. This label can also be used […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-classe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4955"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14571,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4955\/revisions\/14571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icar.cnrs.fr\/dicoplantin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}