nomothete
| From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, December 7, 2004, 0:13 |
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Can "nomothete" or "Nomothete" mean "name-giver" as well as "lawgiver"?
Umberto Eco seems to use this term with the latter sense:
"...'out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and
every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call
them'. The interpretation of the passage is an extremely delicate matter.
Clearly we are in the presence of a motif, common to other religions and
mythologies -- that of the nomothete, the name-giver, the creator of
language."
Search for the Perfect Language, p. 8.
Is Eco using the word incorrectly? I've always understood this to mean
nomos + theticos. Is there any context outside of Eco's use of it here
where this word means giving the name?
No reference or challenge in this posting to any kind of theology whatsover.
:)
Thanks,
Sally
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