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λόγος is grounded as such in a σύνθεσις-διαίρεσις-apprehending, then the latter also lies at the basis of every κατάφασις and every ἀπόφασις. Every κατάφασις-assertion is in itself σύνθεσις and διαίρεσις, likewise every ἀπόφασις, and it is not as though κατάφασις is a σύνθεσις, and ἀπόφασις a διαίρεσις. These distinctions lie in quite different dimensions. Furthermore, the distinction between σύνθεσις and διαίρεσις is not of the same order as ἀπόφανσις, but rather a distinction that precisely articulates the originary and unitary essence of a structure or a structured phenomenon. This phenomenon is what we are seeking under the title of the 'as'.
On the basis of the development of the doctrine of λόγος that we have outlined so far, we can define the problem schematically in order to gain an overview of the intrinsic context. Aristotle takes his starting point from the λόγος in general. The essence of the λόγος is σημαντικός, meaning. From here he proceeds to a specific λόγος, the λόγος ἀποφαντικός. As we have just heard, every propositional statement is either an ascribing or a denying. If we keep to the example of a true judgement, the blackboard is not red. κατάφασις and ἀπόφασις are the two forms of the λόγος ἀποφαντικός. Both forms have the inherent fundamental tendency to point out. Even in a negative statement I wish to say what the board is or is not. The two fundamental forms have the possibility of being true or being false. Being true or false, and thus the entire structure of the λόγος ἀποφαντικός, is grounded in σύνθεσις, which in itself is simultaneously διαίρεσις. The unity of this structure is the essence of νοῦς. We must keep this contextual order of founding in view in order to understand the next part of our interpretation, in the course of which we shall meet a new element that will enable us to unfurl the 'as'-structure as a whole.
e) The pointing out (ἀπόφανσις) pertaining to assertion
as letting beings be seen as what and how they are.
We said by way of introduction that the 'as' is a relation. We have now seen, to begin with, that this relating is concerned with a σύνθεσις: it is a relating