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Joshua P. Hochschild. The Semantics of Analogy: Rereading Cajetan's De Nominum Analogia. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. Pp. xx + 249. Paper, $35.00.
In this work, Joshua Hochschild presents the semantic principles of Cajetan's understanding of analogy, arguing that they should be understood on their own terms and not as a commentary on Aquinas despite the inevitable comparisons between the two thinkers. In the first three chapters, Hochschild argues convincingly that Cajetan's discussion is aimed to answer specific questions that were occasioned by John Duns Scotus's arguments against analogy and not solely as an attempt to interpret Aquinas. Hochschild summarizes Scotus's arguments as objections to the use of analogy in scientific reasoning, which his opponents thought must be used in order for metaphysics to remain a science (39). More specifically, Scotus argues that only a univocal treatment of being could preserve such reasoning.
In chapter 4, Hochschild argues that Aquinas does not provide an answer to Scotus's challenge, although a Thomistic answer could be formulated based on his writings (76). Despite this charitable admission, however, Hochschild appears to gainsay any such solution (contra Ralph McInerny) by claiming the following: "The proposed rule that analogy involves a common res significata and diverse modi significandi does not help us explain why some analogical terms can be used in syllogisms without causing the fallacy of equivocation" (76). As an example, Hochschild cites the analogical use of health, which...