From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHermēneia can concern expression as well as interpretation.
- In StobaeusThe causal classification reports different forms of expression: that from which, by which, according to which, and for the sake of which.
- In this edition“Expression” or “formulation” suits this passage better than an automatic “interpretation.”
- A place to beginDifferent verbal formulations distinguish kinds of cause.
- English renderings
- expression; interpretation; verbal formulation
Meaning
Hermēneia can concern expression as well as interpretation. Its English equivalent depends on whether a passage discusses making something understood or construing what has been said.
Use in the book
The causal classification reports different forms of expression: that from which, by which, according to which, and for the sake of which. These formulations distinguish matter, agent, form, and end. Here hermēneia concerns the language expressing explanatory relations, rather than a commentary interpreting an obscure text.
Places to read
- I.13.1b.2Different verbal formulations distinguish kinds of cause.
Translation in this edition
“Expression” or “formulation” suits this passage better than an automatic “interpretation.”
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 138. The account is a report of Aristotle’s causal distinctions; the opening reference to matter is supplied in the printed text.