Topic > Augustine's Dialogue with Adeodato man is man” (The master 8.22.64). Adeodato replies that man is in fact man Augustine then asks if the syllable “ho-” means anything other than “ho-” and “mo-” means anything other than “mo-” and that. those conjoined syllables are man. Adeodato replies that each syllable means only what they mean and that they conjoined are man. Then he asks, if you are a man (homo), then Adeodato understands where his line of questioning was leading. : Draw the distinction between sign and signifier. Say no to plagiarism Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Analyzing where Adeodato made a mistake in reasoning, he realized that. he should never have conceded that “ho-” and “-mo” combined are man but rather that they form the sign that represents man. Augustine reinforces the point by bringing forward an example in which a speech bubble induced a person to say lion and then could not deny that the lion had come out of the speaker's mouth much to the derision of the speech bubble. Adeodatus points out that it is obvious that what we say does not come out of our mouths but rather we mean things through our speech, unless "signs themselves are signified, and of this class [of signs] we spoke just now" (23.8 .109). Augustine continues his reasoning by asking whether man is a name. Adeodatus begins to accept this in light of the previously established conclusion that every word is a name. Augustine points out that the language he uses is not precise because, in saying that man is a name, he would be saying that he himself is a name. Augustine understands how Adeodatus came to accept conditions that would lead him to a false conclusion. “The law of reason which is rooted in our minds has overcome your caution” (8.24.122-123). Augustine explains that we unconsciously make a distinction between whether we are discussing the word “man” as a sign or as a signifier. If we understand man as a part of speech (a sign), then it is correct to say that man is a name, but if we understand man as referring to the signifier, then it is correct to say that man is an animal. Augustine points out that if someone did not explicitly ask about man as a sign, for example “man is a name”, then the rule of language would immediately switch to what is signified by the syllable “man” – for example if he asked “what it's man." The conversation then turns to why the rule of language is the way it is, for example, why saying “So you are not a man” is offensive when, in the context in which 'man' is a syllable, it is true. Augustine explains that, by virtue of what a sign is supposed to do, the sign points away from itself and towards the signifier by default because it “naturally has the greatest power – so that once the signs are heard, attention is directed to the things meant." ” (8.24.150-151). Augustine then emphasizes “that the things signified should be valued more than their signs. What exists on behalf of another must be worth less than what it exists for" in the sense that the word man, for example, is worth less than the concept of man itself. Adeodatus points out that in some cases the concept is held with great contempt, citing the word "filth" as an example. In itself, the word "filth" is only one letter away from the word for heaven in Latin, but the concept of filth couldn't be further from what heaven embodies. Augustine then asks whether the knowledge of what filth is is more precious than the word filth. Augustine underlines that, if it is true that not all concepts are to be considered large.."