The Three Realms: A Study of the First Chapter of Aristotle's "On Interpretation"

The first lines of Aristotle's On interpretation are one of the most influential texts in the history of semantics and an important introduction to understanding and elaboration of some of Aristotle's views. According to the classical interpretation, Aristotle generally states that one’s writings represent spoken sounds and spoken sounds are in the first place representation of reactions of the soul and reactions of the soul are similar to things and spoken sounds are, as a result, mediated representation of things. In contemporary period, Norman Kretzmann challenged this interpretation and suggested an alternative one which became a starting point for reinterpreting this chapter. This article focuses on the first part of this chapter, gives an account of some classical and contemporary interpretations, and after studying some keywords, it offers an interpretation which holds that Aristotle's main purpose was to recognize three realms of spoken sound, thought, and reality and to address common and specific rules which are helpful in solving some problems.