Categories
| English | Latin | Greek | Alt. Eng. | Aristotle e.g.d | Commentary e.g.d. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Substance | substantiam | οὐσία | man and horse | ||
| Quantity | quantum | πόσος | two-cubits-long, three-cubits-long | number, sentence, line, surface, solid, time, place, | |
| Quality | quale | ποῖος | white, grammatical | ||
| Relative | ad aliquid | προς τι | relation | double, half, greater | |
| Where | ubi | ποῦ | place | in a market, Lyceum | |
| When | quando | πότε | time | yesterday, last year | |
| To be Situated | situm esse | κεῖσθαι | position | lying, sitting | |
| To Have | habere | ἔχειν | state outfitted | shod, armed | |
| To Act | agere | ποιεῖν | act upon | cutting, burning | |
| To Suffer | pati | πάσχειν | affection passion undergo | cut, burnt |
introduction
translations
| Different editions | 1 - Aristotle, Categories | CLAA - Aristotle, Categories | The Internet Classics Archive | Categories by Aristotle | Organon Aristotle Document.pdf broken link | The Organon : Aristotle : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive |
| Catholic Library | Classical Academy | MIT archive | download | greek-english | |
| first sentence | Things are said to be named ‘equivocally’ when, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. | Things are said to be homonymous 1 of which the name alone is common, but the definition of Substance according to the name is different. | Things are said to be named ‘equivocally’ when, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. | Things are said to be named ‘equivocally’ when, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. | Things are equivocally named, when they have the name only in common, the definition (or statement of essence) corresponding with the name being different. |
Videos
Aristotle, The Categories | Univocal, Equivocal, and Derivative Terms | Philosophy Core Concepts
The Predicables and the Predicaments | Categories, (cc. 1-5) | Aristotle
Summary
Categories
Part 1
Ch 1 --------------
3 ways of using a word while speaking
| Latin Congnate | Greek Cognate |
|---|---|
| Equivocal | Homonymous |
| Univocal | Synonymous |
| Distributed derivatively | Paronymous |
Equivocal: The same word is used but for different definitions
Univocal: To things which have both name and definition in common
Paronymous: Between the other two. The same word can be used, with meaning, both similar and different. e.g. “Bob has good health” -vs- “healthy food”
(Analogy will later be used with for paronymous)
Ch 2 --------------
There are two ways a Category can be used. A category can be in a subject, or it can be Predicated of a subject.
in a subject, not Predicated of a subject - e.g. grammar, whiteness
in a subject, Predicated of a subject - e.g. knowledge in soul, pred of grammar
not in a subject, Predicated of a subject - e.g. species, genus
not in a subject, not Predicated of a subject - e.g. Socrates (A Substance)
NB: (present in = inherent in = adhere in)
“By being in…[not part to whole] but as that which cannot exist without it as a subject”
| in | Predicated | of |
|---|---|---|
| no | yes | |
| no | substance | genus |
| yes | this white | knowledge* |
* Example of knowledge being used in both ways:
- knowledge is in the soul, (“B”)
- knowledge is predicated of grammar (“grammar is known”)
Ch 3 --------------Subclasses and predicability
A class is predicated of a subclass,
- could have genus and subgenus with the same differentiae
Ch4 --------------
- Substance (substantiam, οὐσία)
- Quantity (quantum, πόσος)
- Quality (quale, ποῖος)
- Relative (ad aliquid, προς τι)
- Where (ubi, ποῦ)
- When (quando, πότε)
- To be Situated (situm esse, κεῖσθαι)
- To Have (habere, ἔχειν)
- To Act (agere, ποιεῖν)
- To Suffer (pati, πάσχειν)
None are of affirmations, which are combinations
Ch 5 --------------Substance
Primary Substance (individual thing) vs Secondary Substance (species)
substance < species < genus (a man < man < animal)
name, definition, Predicated Of subject (‘man’, rational animal Predicated of subject)
A (~pSub) is either Predicate Of, or Inherent In a primary substance
(present in = inherent in = adhere in)
substance : species :: species : genus (qua The Real)
if Pred of or adhering in substance, also Pred of or in species or genus
(this man is a grammarian, therefore, a man and an animal is a grammarian)
species Pred of substance, but not inherent in substance
cannot definition Pred of substance, but can definition Pred of species
cannot any inherent in substance
cannot differentiae inherent in a subject
secondary substance and differentiae are predicated Univocally
⋄substance receives contraries,
could be both black then white, other things cannot do that
“the distinctive mark of Substance, that being one and the same in number, it can receive contraries according to the mutation of itself.”
Ch 6 --------------Quantity
either Discrete or Continuous
either partite relation or partite relative (internal relative position or non-partite relation)
- ordered vs dimensional
- e.g. ordinal vs cardinal quantities?
boundaries
- discrete don’t have common boundary?
- number belongs to things which are discrete, also sentences
- continuous has common boundary
⋄quantities have no contraries
- either have position or do not have position
⋄quantities do not admit degrees
⋄quantity is that equality and inequality can be predicated of it - not similar m,
Ch 7 --------------Relation
Some relatives have contraries
Some relatives admit degrees
A relative term has always its correlative, and the two are inter dependent
The correlative is only clear when the relative is given its proper name, and in some cases words must be made up
Most relatives come into existence simultaneously
but not knowledge or perception?
⋄No primary substance or part of a primary substance is relative
gives correction of definition
new definition of relative, which excludes second substances
”
It is impossible to know that a thing is relative, unless we know that to which it is relative
Ch 8 --------------Quality
habit and disposition
Ch 9 --------------Action & Affection & Position & Time & Place & State
??s
⁍ position and location in relation to each other
⁍ unity of the species of quality: of acting upon, undergoing, etc.,
⁍ the species making differences of the accidents, especially quality
⁍ shape does not admit of more or less, but we speak of something being “more or less round”
or something being “more or less triangular”
⁍ double and half are related correlatives not as contraries
⁍ whether physics has its own set of categories: momentum, velocity
⁍ “rare”, “dense”, “rough”, “smooth” seem to be under quality as form, but Aristotle has them under position: maybe?
⁍ What does this even mean!?!?
“St. Thomas continues:
But the mode, or determination, of a subject according to accidental being can be taken either (1) in order to the nature itself of the subject; or according to (2) acting upon and (3) undergoing, which follow upon the principles of the nature (which are matter and form), or (4) according to quantity.147”
Is that exhaustive? how do these specific differences work?
Ch 10 --------------contrariety
Ch 11 --------------