81Trendelenburg (Kategorienlehre, p. 184) admits a certain degree of interference and confusion between the Categories ofQuantumandAd Aliquid; but in very scanty measure, and much beneath the reality.
81Trendelenburg (Kategorienlehre, p. 184) admits a certain degree of interference and confusion between the Categories ofQuantumandAd Aliquid; but in very scanty measure, and much beneath the reality.
82The following passages from Mr. James Mill (Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind, vol. ii. ch. xiv. sect. ii. pp. 48, 49, 56, 1st ed.) state very clearly the Relativity of the predicates of Quantity and Quality:—“It seems necessary that I should say something of the wordQuantus, from which the word Quantity is derived.Quantusis the correlate ofTantus.Tantus,Quantus, are relative terms, applicable to all the objects to which we apply the terms Great, Little.� — “Of two lines, we call the onetantus, the otherquantus. The occasions on which we do so, are when the one is as long as the other.� — “When we say that one thing istantus,quantusanother, or one so great, as the other is great; the first is referred to the last, thetantusto thequantus. The first is distinguished and named by the last. TheQuantusis the standard.� — “On what account, then, is it that we give to any thing the nameQuantus? As a standard by which to name another thing,Tantus. The thing calledQuantusis the previously known thing, the ascertained amount, by which we can mark and define the other amount.�“Talis,Qualis, are applied to objects in the same way, on one account, asTantus,Quantus, on another; and the explanation we gave ofTantus,Quantus, may be applied,mutatis mutandis, to the pair of relatives which we have now named.Tantus,Quantus, are names applied to objects on account of dimension.Talis,Qualis, are names applied to objects on account of all other sensations. We applyTantus,Quantus, to a pair of objects when they are equal; we applyTalis,Qualis, to a pair of objects when they are alike. One of the objects is then the standard. The objectQualisis that to which the reference is made.�Compare the same work, vol. i. ch. ix. p. 225:— “The wordSuchis a relative term, and always connotes so much of the meaning of some other term. When we call a thingsuch, it is always understood that it is suchassome other thing. Corresponding with our wordssuch as, the Latins hadTalis,Qualis.�
82The following passages from Mr. James Mill (Analysis of the Phenomena of the Human Mind, vol. ii. ch. xiv. sect. ii. pp. 48, 49, 56, 1st ed.) state very clearly the Relativity of the predicates of Quantity and Quality:—
“It seems necessary that I should say something of the wordQuantus, from which the word Quantity is derived.Quantusis the correlate ofTantus.Tantus,Quantus, are relative terms, applicable to all the objects to which we apply the terms Great, Little.� — “Of two lines, we call the onetantus, the otherquantus. The occasions on which we do so, are when the one is as long as the other.� — “When we say that one thing istantus,quantusanother, or one so great, as the other is great; the first is referred to the last, thetantusto thequantus. The first is distinguished and named by the last. TheQuantusis the standard.� — “On what account, then, is it that we give to any thing the nameQuantus? As a standard by which to name another thing,Tantus. The thing calledQuantusis the previously known thing, the ascertained amount, by which we can mark and define the other amount.�
“Talis,Qualis, are applied to objects in the same way, on one account, asTantus,Quantus, on another; and the explanation we gave ofTantus,Quantus, may be applied,mutatis mutandis, to the pair of relatives which we have now named.Tantus,Quantus, are names applied to objects on account of dimension.Talis,Qualis, are names applied to objects on account of all other sensations. We applyTantus,Quantus, to a pair of objects when they are equal; we applyTalis,Qualis, to a pair of objects when they are alike. One of the objects is then the standard. The objectQualisis that to which the reference is made.�
Compare the same work, vol. i. ch. ix. p. 225:— “The wordSuchis a relative term, and always connotes so much of the meaning of some other term. When we call a thingsuch, it is always understood that it is suchassome other thing. Corresponding with our wordssuch as, the Latins hadTalis,Qualis.�
We thus see that all the predicates, not only under the Category which Aristotle termsAd Aliquid, but also under all the last nine Categories, are relative. Indeed the work of predication is always relative. The express purpose, as well as the practical usefulness, of a significant predicate is, to carry the mind of the hearer either to a comparison or to a general notion which is the result of past comparisons. But though each predicate connotes Relation, each connotes a certainfundamentumbesides, which gives to the Relation its peculiar character. Relations of Quantity are not the same as relations of Quality; the predicates of the former connote afundamentumdifferent from the predicates of the latter, though in both the meaning conveyed is relative. In fact, every predicate or concrete general name is relative, or connotes a Relation to something else, actual or potential, beyond the thing named. The only name not relative is the Proper name, which connotes no attributes, and cannot properly be used as a predicate (so Aristotle remarks), but only as a Subject.83Sokrates, Kallias, Bukephalus &c., denotes theHoc AliquidorUnum Numero, which, when pronounced alone, indicates some concrete aggregate (as yet unknown) which may manifest itself to my senses, but does not, so far as the name is concerned, involve necessary reference to anything besides; though even these names, when one and the same name continues to be applied to the same object, may beheld to connote a real or supposed continuity of past or future existence, and become thus to a certain extent relative.
83You may make Sokrates a predicate, in the proposition, τὸ λευκὸν ἐκεῖνο Σωκράτης ἐστίν, but Aristotle dismisses this as an irregular or perverse manner of speaking (see Analytic. Priora, i. p. 43, a. 35; Analyt. Poster. i. p. 83, a. 2-16).Alexander calls these propositions αἱ παρὰ φύσιν προτάσεις (see Schol. ad Metaphys.Δ. p. 1017, a. 23).Mr. James Harris observes (Philosophical Arrangements, ch. x. p. 214; also 317, 348):— “Hence too we may see why Relation stands next to Quantity; for in strictness the Predicaments which follow are but different modes of Relation, marked by some peculiar character over their own, over and above the relative character, which is common to them all.â€� To which I would add, that the first two Categories, Substance and Quantity, are no less relative or correlative than the eight later Categories; as indeed Harris himself thinks; see the same work, pp. 90, 473: “Matter and Attribute are essentially distinct, yet, likeconvexandconcave, they are by nature inseparable. We have already spoken as to the inseparability of attributes; we now speak as to that of matter. Ἡμεῖς δὲ φαμὲν μὲν εἶναί τινα ὕλην τῶν σωμάτων τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ἀλλὰ ταύτην οὐ χωριστὴν ἀλλ’ ἀεὶ μετ’ ἐναντιώσεως — ὕλην τὴν ἀχώριστον μὲν, ὑποκειμένην δὲ τοῖς ἐναντίοις (Aristot. De Gen. et Corr. p. 329, a. 24). By contraries, Aristotle means here the several attributes of matter, hot, cold, &c.; from some one or other of which matter is always inseparable.â€�
83You may make Sokrates a predicate, in the proposition, τὸ λευκὸν ἐκεῖνο Σωκράτης ἐστίν, but Aristotle dismisses this as an irregular or perverse manner of speaking (see Analytic. Priora, i. p. 43, a. 35; Analyt. Poster. i. p. 83, a. 2-16).
Alexander calls these propositions αἱ παρὰ φύσιν προτάσεις (see Schol. ad Metaphys.Δ. p. 1017, a. 23).
Mr. James Harris observes (Philosophical Arrangements, ch. x. p. 214; also 317, 348):— “Hence too we may see why Relation stands next to Quantity; for in strictness the Predicaments which follow are but different modes of Relation, marked by some peculiar character over their own, over and above the relative character, which is common to them all.â€� To which I would add, that the first two Categories, Substance and Quantity, are no less relative or correlative than the eight later Categories; as indeed Harris himself thinks; see the same work, pp. 90, 473: “Matter and Attribute are essentially distinct, yet, likeconvexandconcave, they are by nature inseparable. We have already spoken as to the inseparability of attributes; we now speak as to that of matter. Ἡμεῖς δὲ φαμὲν μὲν εἶναί τινα ὕλην τῶν σωμάτων τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ἀλλὰ ταύτην οὐ χωριστὴν ἀλλ’ ἀεὶ μετ’ ἐναντιώσεως — ὕλην τὴν ἀχώριστον μὲν, ὑποκειμένην δὲ τοῖς ἐναντίοις (Aristot. De Gen. et Corr. p. 329, a. 24). By contraries, Aristotle means here the several attributes of matter, hot, cold, &c.; from some one or other of which matter is always inseparable.â€�
We must observe that what the proper name denotes is any certain concrete One and individual,84with his attributes essential and non-essential, whatever they may be, though as yet undeclared, and with his capacity of receiving other attributes different and even opposite. This is what Aristotle indicates as the most special characteristic of Substance or Essence, that while it isUnum et Idem Numero, it is capable of receiving contraries. This potentiality of contraries, described as characterizing theUnum et Idem Numero,85is relative to something about to come; the First Essence is doubtless logically First, but it is just as much relative to the Second, as the Second to the First. We know it only by two negations and one affirmation, all of which are relative to predicationsin futuro. It is neither in a Subject, nor predicable of a Subject. It is itself the ultimate Subject of all predications and all inherencies. Plainly, therefore, we know it only relatively to these predications and inherencies. Aristotle says truly, that if you take away the First Essences, everything else, Second Essences as well as Accidents, disappears along with them. But he might have added with equal truth, that if you take away all Second Essences and all Accidents, the First Essences will disappear equally. The correlation and interdependence is reciprocal.86It may be suitable, with a view to clear and retainable philosophical explanation, to state the Subject first and the predicates afterwards; so that the Subject may thus be considered as logicallyprius. But in truth the Subject is only asubstratumfor predicates,87as much as the predicates aresuperstratauponthe Subject. The termsubstratumdesignates not an absolute or aper se, but aCorrelatumto certainsuperstrata, determined or undetermined: now theCorrelatumis one of the pair implicated directly or indirectly in all Relation; and it is in fact specified by Aristotle as one variety of the CategoryAd Aliquid.88We see therefore that the idea of Relativity attaches to the first of the ten Categories, as well as to the nine others. The inference from these observations is, that Relation or Relativity, understood in the large sense which really belongs to it, ought to be considered rather as an Universal, comprehending and pervading all the Categories, than as a separate Category in itself, co-ordinate with the other nine. It is the condition and characteristic of the work of predication generally; the last analysis of which is into Subject and Predicate, in reciprocal implication with each other. I remark that this was the view taken of it by some well-known Peripatetic commentators of antiquity;89by Andronikus, for example, and by Ammonius after him. Plato, though he makes no attempt to draw up a list of Categories, has an incidental passage respecting Relativity;90conceiving it in a very extended sense, apparently as belonging more or less to all predicates. Aristotle, though in the Categoriæ he gives a narrower explanation of it, founded upon grammatical rather than real considerations, yet intimates in other places that predicates ranked under the heads ofQuale,Actio,Passio,Jacere, &c., may also be looked at as belonging to the head ofAd Aliquid.91This latter, moreover, he himselfdeclares elsewhere to beEnsin the lowest degree, farther removed from thePrima Essentiathan any of the other Categories; to be more in the nature of an appendage to some of them, especially toQuantumandQuale;92and to presuppose, not only thePrima Essentia(which all the nine later Categories presuppose), but also one or more of the others, indicating the particular mode of comparison or Relativity in each case affirmed. Thus, under one aspect, Relation or Relativity may be said to standprius naturâ, and to come first in order before all the Categories, inasmuch as it is implicated with the whole business of predication (which those Categories are intended to resolve into its elements), and belongs not less to the mode of conceiving what we call the Subject, than to the mode of conceiving what we call its Predicates, each and all. Under another aspect, Relativity may be said to stand last in order among the Categories — even to come after the adverbial CategoriesUbi et Quando; because itslocus standiis dim and doubtful, and because every one of the subordinate predicates belonging to it may be seen to belong to one or other of the remaining Categories also. Aristotle remarks that the CategoryAd Aliquidhas no peculiar and definite mode of generation corresponding to it, in the manner that Increase and Diminution belong toQuantum, Change toQuale, Generation, simple and absolute, to Essence or Substance.93New relations may become predicable of a thing, without any change in the thing itself, but simply by changes in other things.94
84Simplikius ap. Schol. p. 52, a. 42: πρὸς ὅ φασιν οἱ σπουδαιότεροι τῶν ἐξηγητῶν, ὅτι ἡ αἰσθητὴ οὐσία συμφόρησίς τίς ἐστι ποιοτήτων καὶ ὕλης, καὶ ὁμοῦ μὲν πάντα συμπαγέντα μίαν ποιεῖ τὴν αἰσθητὴν οὐσίαν, χωρὶς δὲ ἕκαστον λαμβανόμενον τὸ μὲν ποιὸν τὸ δὲ ποσόν ἐστι λαμβανόμενον, ἤ τι ἄλλο.
84Simplikius ap. Schol. p. 52, a. 42: πρὸς ὅ φασιν οἱ σπουδαιότεροι τῶν ἐξηγητῶν, ὅτι ἡ αἰσθητὴ οὐσία συμφόρησίς τίς ἐστι ποιοτήτων καὶ ὕλης, καὶ ὁμοῦ μὲν πάντα συμπαγέντα μίαν ποιεῖ τὴν αἰσθητὴν οὐσίαν, χωρὶς δὲ ἕκαστον λαμβανόμενον τὸ μὲν ποιὸν τὸ δὲ ποσόν ἐστι λαμβανόμενον, ἤ τι ἄλλο.
85Aristot. Categ. p. 4, a. 10: Μάλιστα δὲ ἴδιον τοῦτο τῆς οὐσίας δοκεῖ εἶναι, τὸ ταὐτὸν καὶ ἓν ἀριθμῷ ὂν τῶν ἐναντίων εἶναι δεκτικόν. See Waitz, note, p. 290: δεκτικὸν dicitur τὸ ἐν ᾧ πέφυκεν ὑπάρχειν τι.Dexippus, and after him Simplikius, observe justly, that the characteristic mark of πρώτη οὐσία is this very circumstance of beingunum numero, which belongs in common to all πρῶται οὐσίαι, and is indicated by the Proper name: λύσις δὲ τούτου, ὅτι αὐτὸ τὸ μίαν εἶναι ἀριθμῷ, κοινός ἐστι λόγος. (Simpl. in Categor., fol. 22Δ.; Dexippus, book ii. sect. 18, p. 57, ed. Spengel.)
85Aristot. Categ. p. 4, a. 10: Μάλιστα δὲ ἴδιον τοῦτο τῆς οὐσίας δοκεῖ εἶναι, τὸ ταὐτὸν καὶ ἓν ἀριθμῷ ὂν τῶν ἐναντίων εἶναι δεκτικόν. See Waitz, note, p. 290: δεκτικὸν dicitur τὸ ἐν ᾧ πέφυκεν ὑπάρχειν τι.
Dexippus, and after him Simplikius, observe justly, that the characteristic mark of πρώτη οὐσία is this very circumstance of beingunum numero, which belongs in common to all πρῶται οὐσίαι, and is indicated by the Proper name: λύσις δὲ τούτου, ὅτι αὐτὸ τὸ μίαν εἶναι ἀριθμῷ, κοινός ἐστι λόγος. (Simpl. in Categor., fol. 22Δ.; Dexippus, book ii. sect. 18, p. 57, ed. Spengel.)
86Aristot. Categ. p. 2, b. 5. μὴ οὐσῶν οὖν τῶν πρώτων οὐσιῶν ἀδύνατον τῶν ἄλλων τι εἶναι.Mr. John Stuart Mill observes: “As to the self-existence of Substance, it is very true that a substance may be conceived to exist without any other substance; but so also may an attribute without any other attributes. And we can no more imagine a substance without attributes, than we can imagine attributes without a substance.â€� (System of Logic, bk. i. ch. iii. p. 61, 6th ed.)
86Aristot. Categ. p. 2, b. 5. μὴ οὐσῶν οὖν τῶν πρώτων οὐσιῶν ἀδύνατον τῶν ἄλλων τι εἶναι.
Mr. John Stuart Mill observes: “As to the self-existence of Substance, it is very true that a substance may be conceived to exist without any other substance; but so also may an attribute without any other attributes. And we can no more imagine a substance without attributes, than we can imagine attributes without a substance.� (System of Logic, bk. i. ch. iii. p. 61, 6th ed.)
87Aristot. Physic. ii. p. 194, b. 8. ἔτι τῶν πρός τι ἡ ὕλη· ἄλλῳ γὰρ εἴδει ἄλλη ὕλη.Plotinus puts this correctly, in his criticisms on the Stoic Categories; criticisms which on this point equally apply to the Aristotelian: πρός τι γὰρ τὸ ὑποκείμενον, οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ποιοῦν εἰς αὐτό, κείμενον. Καὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον ὑποκεῖται πρὸς τὸ οὐχ ὑποκείμενον· εἰ τοῦτο, πρὸς τὰ τὸ ἔξω, &c. Also Dexippus in the Scholia ad Categor. p. 45, a. 26: τὸ γὰρ ὑποκείμενον κατὰ πρός τι λέγεσθαι ἐδόκει, τινὶ γὰρ ὑποκείμενον.
87Aristot. Physic. ii. p. 194, b. 8. ἔτι τῶν πρός τι ἡ ὕλη· ἄλλῳ γὰρ εἴδει ἄλλη ὕλη.
Plotinus puts this correctly, in his criticisms on the Stoic Categories; criticisms which on this point equally apply to the Aristotelian: πρός τι γὰρ τὸ ὑποκείμενον, οὐ πρὸς τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ποιοῦν εἰς αὐτό, κείμενον. Καὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον ὑποκεῖται πρὸς τὸ οὐχ ὑποκείμενον· εἰ τοῦτο, πρὸς τὰ τὸ ἔξω, &c. Also Dexippus in the Scholia ad Categor. p. 45, a. 26: τὸ γὰρ ὑποκείμενον κατὰ πρός τι λέγεσθαι ἐδόκει, τινὶ γὰρ ὑποκείμενον.
88Aristot. Metaphys.Δ. p. 1020, b. 31, p. 1021, a. 27, seq.
88Aristot. Metaphys.Δ. p. 1020, b. 31, p. 1021, a. 27, seq.
89Schol. p. 60, a. 38, Br.; p. 47, b. 26. Xenokrates and Andronikus included all things under the two heads τὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ and τὸ πρός τι. Ἀνδρόνικος μὲν γὰρ ὁ Ῥόδιος τελευταίαν ἀπονέμει τοῖς προς τι τάξιν, λέγων αἰτίαν τοιαύτην. τὰ πρός τι οἰκείαν ὕλη οὐκ ἔχει·παραφυάδι γὰρ ἔοικεν οἰκείαν φύσιν μὴ ἐχούσῃ ἀλλὰ περιπλεκομένῃ τοῖς ἔχουσιν οἰκείαν ῥίζαν· αἱ δὲ ἔννεα κατηγορίαι οἰκείαν ὕλην ἔχουσιν· εἰκότως οὖν τελευταίαν ὤφειλον ἔχειν τάξιν. Again, Schol. p. 60, a. 24 (Ammonius): καλῶς δέ τινες ἀπεικάζουσι τὰ πρός τι παραφυάσιν, &c. Also p. 59, b. 41; p. 49, a. 47; p. 61, b. 29: ἴσως δὲ καὶ ὅτι τὰ πρός τι ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις γένεσιν ὑφέστηκε, διὰ τοῦτο σὺν αὐτοῖς θεωρεῖται, κἂν μὴ προηγουμένης ἔτυχε μνήμης (and the Scholia ad p. 6, a. 36, prefixed to Waitz’s edition, p. 33). Also p. 62, a. 37: διὰ ταῦτα δὲ ὡς παραφυομένην ταῖς ἄλλαις κατηγορίαις τὴν τοῦ πρός τι ἐπεισοδιώδη νομίζουσι, καίτοι προηγουμένην οὖσαν καὶ κατὰ διαφορὰν οἰκείαν θεωρουμένην. Boêthus had written an entire book upon τὰ πρός τι, Schol. p. 61, b. 9.
89Schol. p. 60, a. 38, Br.; p. 47, b. 26. Xenokrates and Andronikus included all things under the two heads τὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ and τὸ πρός τι. Ἀνδρόνικος μὲν γὰρ ὁ Ῥόδιος τελευταίαν ἀπονέμει τοῖς προς τι τάξιν, λέγων αἰτίαν τοιαύτην. τὰ πρός τι οἰκείαν ὕλη οὐκ ἔχει·παραφυάδι γὰρ ἔοικεν οἰκείαν φύσιν μὴ ἐχούσῃ ἀλλὰ περιπλεκομένῃ τοῖς ἔχουσιν οἰκείαν ῥίζαν· αἱ δὲ ἔννεα κατηγορίαι οἰκείαν ὕλην ἔχουσιν· εἰκότως οὖν τελευταίαν ὤφειλον ἔχειν τάξιν. Again, Schol. p. 60, a. 24 (Ammonius): καλῶς δέ τινες ἀπεικάζουσι τὰ πρός τι παραφυάσιν, &c. Also p. 59, b. 41; p. 49, a. 47; p. 61, b. 29: ἴσως δὲ καὶ ὅτι τὰ πρός τι ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις γένεσιν ὑφέστηκε, διὰ τοῦτο σὺν αὐτοῖς θεωρεῖται, κἂν μὴ προηγουμένης ἔτυχε μνήμης (and the Scholia ad p. 6, a. 36, prefixed to Waitz’s edition, p. 33). Also p. 62, a. 37: διὰ ταῦτα δὲ ὡς παραφυομένην ταῖς ἄλλαις κατηγορίαις τὴν τοῦ πρός τι ἐπεισοδιώδη νομίζουσι, καίτοι προηγουμένην οὖσαν καὶ κατὰ διαφορὰν οἰκείαν θεωρουμένην. Boêthus had written an entire book upon τὰ πρός τι, Schol. p. 61, b. 9.
90Plato, Republic, iv. 437 C. to 439 B. (compare also Sophistes, p. 255 C., and Politicus, p. 285). Καὶ τὰ πλείω δὴ πρὸς τὰ ἐλάττω καὶ τὰ διπλάσια πρὸς τὰ ἡμίσεα καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ αὖ βαρύτερα πρὸς κουφότερα καὶ θάττω πρὸς βραδύτερα,καὶ ἔτι γε τὰ θερμὰ πρὸς τὰ ψυχρὰκαὶ πάντα τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια, ἆρ’ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει; (438 C.)
90Plato, Republic, iv. 437 C. to 439 B. (compare also Sophistes, p. 255 C., and Politicus, p. 285). Καὶ τὰ πλείω δὴ πρὸς τὰ ἐλάττω καὶ τὰ διπλάσια πρὸς τὰ ἡμίσεα καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ αὖ βαρύτερα πρὸς κουφότερα καὶ θάττω πρὸς βραδύτερα,καὶ ἔτι γε τὰ θερμὰ πρὸς τὰ ψυχρὰκαὶ πάντα τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια, ἆρ’ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει; (438 C.)
91See Metaphysic.Δ. p. 1020, b. 26, p. 1021, b. 10. Trendelenburg observes (Gesch. der Kategorienlehre, pp. 118-122, seq.) how much more the description given of πρός τι in the Categoriæ is determined by verbal or grammatical considerations, than in the Metaphysica and other treatises of Aristotle.
91See Metaphysic.Δ. p. 1020, b. 26, p. 1021, b. 10. Trendelenburg observes (Gesch. der Kategorienlehre, pp. 118-122, seq.) how much more the description given of πρός τι in the Categoriæ is determined by verbal or grammatical considerations, than in the Metaphysica and other treatises of Aristotle.
92See Ethic. Nikomach. i. p. 1096, a. 20: τὸ δὲ καθ’ αὑτὸ καὶ ἡ οὐσία πρότερον τῇ φύσει τοῦ πρός τι· παραφυάδι γὰρ τοῦτ’ ἔοικε καὶ συμβεβηκότι τοῦ ὄντος, ὥστε οὐκ ἂν εἴη κοινή τις ἐπὶ τούτων ἰδέα. (The expression παραφυάδι was copied by Andronikus; see anoteon the preceding page.) Metaphys.N. p. 1088, a. 22-26: τὸ δὲ πρός τι πάντων ἥκιστα φύσις τις ἢ οὐσία τῶν κατηγοριῶν ἐστί, καὶ ὑστέρα τοῦ ποιοῦ καὶ ποσοῦ· καὶπάθος τι τοῦ ποσοῦ τὸ πρός τι, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὕλη, εἴ τι ἕτερον καὶ τῷ ὅλως κοινῷ πρός τι καὶ τοῖς μέρεσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ εἴδεσιν. Compare Bonitz in his note on p. 1070, a. 33.The general doctrine laid down by Aristotle, Metaphys.N. p. 1087, b. 34, seq., about the universality of μέτρον as pervading all the Categories, is analogous to the passage above referred to in the Politicus of Plato, and implies the Relativity involved more or less in all predicates.
92See Ethic. Nikomach. i. p. 1096, a. 20: τὸ δὲ καθ’ αὑτὸ καὶ ἡ οὐσία πρότερον τῇ φύσει τοῦ πρός τι· παραφυάδι γὰρ τοῦτ’ ἔοικε καὶ συμβεβηκότι τοῦ ὄντος, ὥστε οὐκ ἂν εἴη κοινή τις ἐπὶ τούτων ἰδέα. (The expression παραφυάδι was copied by Andronikus; see anoteon the preceding page.) Metaphys.N. p. 1088, a. 22-26: τὸ δὲ πρός τι πάντων ἥκιστα φύσις τις ἢ οὐσία τῶν κατηγοριῶν ἐστί, καὶ ὑστέρα τοῦ ποιοῦ καὶ ποσοῦ· καὶπάθος τι τοῦ ποσοῦ τὸ πρός τι, ὥσπερ ἐλέχθη, ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὕλη, εἴ τι ἕτερον καὶ τῷ ὅλως κοινῷ πρός τι καὶ τοῖς μέρεσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ εἴδεσιν. Compare Bonitz in his note on p. 1070, a. 33.
The general doctrine laid down by Aristotle, Metaphys.N. p. 1087, b. 34, seq., about the universality of μέτρον as pervading all the Categories, is analogous to the passage above referred to in the Politicus of Plato, and implies the Relativity involved more or less in all predicates.
93Aristot. Metaph.N. p. 1088, a. 29: σημεῖον δὲ ὅτι ἥκιστα οὐσία τις καὶ ὄν τιτὸ πρός τιτὸ μόνον μὴ εἶναι γένεσιν αὐτοῦ μηδὲ φθορὰν μηδὲ κίνησιν, ὥσπερ κατὰ τὸ ποσὸν αὔξησις καὶ φθίσις, κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἀλλοίωσις, κατὰ τόπον φορά, κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ἡ ἁπλῆ γένεσις καὶ φθορά. CompareK. p. 1068, a. 9: ἀνάγκη τρεῖς εἶναι κινήσεις, ποιοῦ, ποσοῦ, τόπου. κατ’ οὐσίαν δ’ οὔ, διὰ τὸ μηθὲν εἶναι οὐσίᾳ ἐναντίον, οὐδὲ τοῦ πρός τι. Also Physica, v. p. 225, b. 11: ἐνδέχεται γὰρ θατέρου μεταβάλλοντος ἀληθεύεσθαι θάτερον μηδὲν μετάβαλλον. See about this passage Bonitz and Schwegler’s notes on Metaphys. p. 1068.
93Aristot. Metaph.N. p. 1088, a. 29: σημεῖον δὲ ὅτι ἥκιστα οὐσία τις καὶ ὄν τιτὸ πρός τιτὸ μόνον μὴ εἶναι γένεσιν αὐτοῦ μηδὲ φθορὰν μηδὲ κίνησιν, ὥσπερ κατὰ τὸ ποσὸν αὔξησις καὶ φθίσις, κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἀλλοίωσις, κατὰ τόπον φορά, κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ἡ ἁπλῆ γένεσις καὶ φθορά. CompareK. p. 1068, a. 9: ἀνάγκη τρεῖς εἶναι κινήσεις, ποιοῦ, ποσοῦ, τόπου. κατ’ οὐσίαν δ’ οὔ, διὰ τὸ μηθὲν εἶναι οὐσίᾳ ἐναντίον, οὐδὲ τοῦ πρός τι. Also Physica, v. p. 225, b. 11: ἐνδέχεται γὰρ θατέρου μεταβάλλοντος ἀληθεύεσθαι θάτερον μηδὲν μετάβαλλον. See about this passage Bonitz and Schwegler’s notes on Metaphys. p. 1068.
94Hobbes observes (First Philosophy, part ii. ch. xi. 6): “But we must not so think of Relation as if it were an accident differing from all the other accidents of the relative; but one of them, namely, that by which the comparison is made. For example, the likeness of one white to another white, or its unlikeness to black, is the same accident with its whiteness.â€� This may be true about the relations Like and Unlike (see Mr. John Stuart Mill, Logic, ch. iii. p. 80, 6th ed.) But, in Relations generally, thefundamentummay be logically distinguished from the Relation itself.Aristotle makes the same remarks upon τὸ συμβεβηκὸς as upon τὸ πρός τι:— That it verges upon Non-ens; and that it has no special mode of being generated or destroyed. φαίνεται γὰρ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ἐγγύς τι τοῦ μὴ ὄντος· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον τρόπον ὄντων ἔστι γένεσις καὶ φθορά, τῶν δὲ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς οὐκ ἔστιν. (Metaphys.E. p. 1026, b. 21.)
94Hobbes observes (First Philosophy, part ii. ch. xi. 6): “But we must not so think of Relation as if it were an accident differing from all the other accidents of the relative; but one of them, namely, that by which the comparison is made. For example, the likeness of one white to another white, or its unlikeness to black, is the same accident with its whiteness.� This may be true about the relations Like and Unlike (see Mr. John Stuart Mill, Logic, ch. iii. p. 80, 6th ed.) But, in Relations generally, thefundamentummay be logically distinguished from the Relation itself.
Aristotle makes the same remarks upon τὸ συμβεβηκὸς as upon τὸ πρός τι:— That it verges upon Non-ens; and that it has no special mode of being generated or destroyed. φαίνεται γὰρ τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ἐγγύς τι τοῦ μὴ ὄντος· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον τρόπον ὄντων ἔστι γένεσις καὶ φθορά, τῶν δὲ κατὰ συμβεβηκὸς οὐκ ἔστιν. (Metaphys.E. p. 1026, b. 21.)
Those among the Aristotelian commentators who denied the title ofAd Aliquidto a place among the Categories orSumma Generaof predicates, might support their views from passages where Aristotle ranks the Genus as aRelatum, though he at the same time declares that the Species under it are notRelata.Thusscientiais declared by him to be aRelatum; because it must beof something—alicujus scibilis; while thesomethingthus implied is not specified.95But (scientia)musica,grammatica,medica, &c., are declared not to beRelata; the indeterminatesomethingbeing there determined, and bound up in one word with the predication of Relativity. Now the truth is that both are alikeRelata, though both also belong to the Category of Quality; a man is calledTalisfrom beingsciens, as well as from beinggrammaticus. Again, he gives as illustrative examples of the CategoryAd Aliquid, the adjectives double, triple. But he ranks in a different Category (that ofQuantum) the adjectives bicubital, tricubital (διπῆχυς, τριπῆχυς). It is plain that the two last of these predicates are species under the two first, and that all four predicates are alike relative, under any real definition that can be given of Relativity, though all four belong also to the Category ofQuantum. Yet Aristotle does not recognize any predicates as belonging toAd Aliquid, except such as are logically and grammatically elliptical; that is, such as do not include in themselves the specification of the Correlate, but require to be supplemented by an additional word in the genitive or dative case, specifying the latter. As we have already seen, he lays it down generally, that allRelata(orAd Aliquid) imply aCorrelatum; and he prescribes that when theCorrelatumis indicated, care shall be taken to designate it by a precise and specific term, not of wider import than theRelatum,96but specially reciprocating therewith: thus he regardsala(a wing) asAd Aliquid, but when you specify its correlate in order to speak with propriety (οἰκείως), you must describe it asalaalati(not asala avis), in order that theCorrelatummay be strictly co-extensive and reciprocating with theRelatum. Wing, head, hand, &c., are thusAd Aliquid, though there may be no received word in the language to express their exactCorrelata; and though you may find it necessary to coin a new word expressly for the purpose.97In specifying theCorrelatumof servant, you must say, servantof a master, not servant of a man or of a biped; both of which are in this case accompaniments or accidents of the master, being still accidents, though they may be in fact constantly conjoined. Unless you say master, the terms will not reciprocate; take away master, the servant is no longer to be found, though the man who was calledservantis still there; but take away man or biped, and the servant may still continue.98You cannot know theRelatumdeterminately or accurately, unless you know theCorrelatumalso; without the knowledge of the latter, you can only know the former in a vague and indefinite manner.99Aristotle raises, also, the question whether any Essence or Substance can be described asAd Aliquid.100He inclines to the negative, though not decisively pronouncing. He seems to think that Simo and Davus, when called men, are Essences or Substances; but that when called master and slave, they are not so; this, however, is surprising, when he had just before spoken of the connotation of man as accidents (συμβεβηκότα) belonging to the connotation of master. He speaks of the members of an organized body (wing, head, foot) as examples ofAd Aliquid; while in othertreatises, he determines very clearly that these members presuppose, as aprius naturâ, the complete organism whereof they are parts, and that the name of each member connotes the performance of, or aptitude to perform, a certain special function: now, such aptitude cannot exist unless the whole organism be held together in co-operative agency, so that if this last condition be wanting, the names, head, eye, foot, can no longer be applied to the separate members, or at least can only be applied equivocally or metaphorically.101It would seem therefore that the functioningsomethingis here the Essence, and that all its material properties are accidents (συμβεβηκότα).
95Categor. p. 6, b. 12, p. 11, a. 24; Topic. iv. p. 124, b. 16. Compare also Topica, iv. p. 121, a. 1, and the Scholia thereupon, p. 278, b. 12-16, Br.; in which Scholia Alexander feels the difficulty of enrolling a generic term as πρός τι, while the specific terms comprised under it are not πρός τι; and removes the difficulty by suggesting that ἐπιστήμη may be at once both ποιότης and πρός τι; and that as ποιότης (not as πρός τι) it may be the genus including μουσικὴ and γεωμετρία, which are not πρός τι, but ποιότητες.
95Categor. p. 6, b. 12, p. 11, a. 24; Topic. iv. p. 124, b. 16. Compare also Topica, iv. p. 121, a. 1, and the Scholia thereupon, p. 278, b. 12-16, Br.; in which Scholia Alexander feels the difficulty of enrolling a generic term as πρός τι, while the specific terms comprised under it are not πρός τι; and removes the difficulty by suggesting that ἐπιστήμη may be at once both ποιότης and πρός τι; and that as ποιότης (not as πρός τι) it may be the genus including μουσικὴ and γεωμετρία, which are not πρός τι, but ποιότητες.
96Categor. p. 6, b. 30, p. 7, b. 12.
96Categor. p. 6, b. 30, p. 7, b. 12.
97Categor. p. 7, a. 5. ἐνίοτε δὲ ὀνοματοποιεῖν ἴσως ἀναγκαῖον, ἐὰν μὴ κείμενον ᾖ ὄνομα πρὸς ὃοἰκείωςἂν ἀποδοθείη.
97Categor. p. 7, a. 5. ἐνίοτε δὲ ὀνοματοποιεῖν ἴσως ἀναγκαῖον, ἐὰν μὴ κείμενον ᾖ ὄνομα πρὸς ὃοἰκείωςἂν ἀποδοθείη.
98Categor. p. 7, a. 31. ἔτι δ’ ἐὰν μέν τι οἰκείως ἀποδιδόμενον ᾖ πρὸς ὃ λέγεται, πάντων περιαιρουμένων τῶν ἄλλων ὅσασυμβεβηκόταἐστί, καταλειπομένου δὲ μόνου τούτου πρὸς ὃ ἀπεδόθη οἰκείως, ἀεὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ ῥηθήσεται, οἷον ὁ δοῦλος ἐὰν πρὸς δεσπότην λέγηται, περιαιρουμένων τῶνἄλλων ἁπάντων ὅσα συμβεβηκόταἐστὶτῷ δεσπότῃοἷον τὸ δίποδι εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἐπιστήμης δεκτικῷ καὶτὸ ἀνθρώπῳ, καταλειπομένου δὲ μόνου τοῦ δεσπότην εἶναι, ἀεὶ ὁ δοῦλος πρὸς αὐτὸ ῥηθήσεται.This is not only just and useful in regard to accuracy of predication, but deserves attention also in another point of view. In general, it would be said thatmanandbipedbelonged to the Essence (οὐσία); and the being a master to the Accidents or Accompaniments (συμβεβηκότα). Here the case is reversed; man and biped are the accidents or accompaniments; master is the Essence. What is connoted by the termmasteris here the essential idea, that which is bound up with the idea connoted byservant; while the connotation ofmanorbipedsinks into the character of an accessory or accompaniment. The master might possibly not be a man, but a god; the Delphian Apollo (Euripid. Ion, 132), and the Corinthian Aphrodité, had each many slaves belonging to them. Moreover, even if every master were a man, the qualities connoted bymanare here accidental, as not being included in those connoted by the term master. Compare Metaphysica,Δ. p. 1025, a. 32; Topica, i. p. 102, a. 18.
98Categor. p. 7, a. 31. ἔτι δ’ ἐὰν μέν τι οἰκείως ἀποδιδόμενον ᾖ πρὸς ὃ λέγεται, πάντων περιαιρουμένων τῶν ἄλλων ὅσασυμβεβηκόταἐστί, καταλειπομένου δὲ μόνου τούτου πρὸς ὃ ἀπεδόθη οἰκείως, ἀεὶ πρὸς αὐτὸ ῥηθήσεται, οἷον ὁ δοῦλος ἐὰν πρὸς δεσπότην λέγηται, περιαιρουμένων τῶνἄλλων ἁπάντων ὅσα συμβεβηκόταἐστὶτῷ δεσπότῃοἷον τὸ δίποδι εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἐπιστήμης δεκτικῷ καὶτὸ ἀνθρώπῳ, καταλειπομένου δὲ μόνου τοῦ δεσπότην εἶναι, ἀεὶ ὁ δοῦλος πρὸς αὐτὸ ῥηθήσεται.
This is not only just and useful in regard to accuracy of predication, but deserves attention also in another point of view. In general, it would be said thatmanandbipedbelonged to the Essence (οὐσία); and the being a master to the Accidents or Accompaniments (συμβεβηκότα). Here the case is reversed; man and biped are the accidents or accompaniments; master is the Essence. What is connoted by the termmasteris here the essential idea, that which is bound up with the idea connoted byservant; while the connotation ofmanorbipedsinks into the character of an accessory or accompaniment. The master might possibly not be a man, but a god; the Delphian Apollo (Euripid. Ion, 132), and the Corinthian Aphrodité, had each many slaves belonging to them. Moreover, even if every master were a man, the qualities connoted bymanare here accidental, as not being included in those connoted by the term master. Compare Metaphysica,Δ. p. 1025, a. 32; Topica, i. p. 102, a. 18.
99That Plato was fully sensible to the necessity of precision and appropriateness in designating theCorrelatumbelonging to eachRelatum, may be seen by the ingenious reasoning in the Platonic Parmenides, pp. 133-134, where δεσπότης and δοῦλος are also the illustrative examples employed.
99That Plato was fully sensible to the necessity of precision and appropriateness in designating theCorrelatumbelonging to eachRelatum, may be seen by the ingenious reasoning in the Platonic Parmenides, pp. 133-134, where δεσπότης and δοῦλος are also the illustrative examples employed.
100Categor. p. 8, a. 35, b. 20.
100Categor. p. 8, a. 35, b. 20.
101See Politica, i. p. 1253, a. 18: καὶ πρότερον δὴ τῇ φύσει πόλις ἢ οἰκία καὶ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ἐστίν· τὸ γὰρ ὅλον πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τοῦ μέρους· ἀναιρουμένου γὰρ τοῦ ὅλου οὐκ ἔσται ποῦς οὐδὲ χεὶρ, εἰ μὴ ὁμωνύμως, ὥσπερ εἴ τις λέγειτὴνλιθίνην· διαφθαρεῖσα γὰρ ἔσται τοιαύτη. πάντα δὲ τῷ ἔργῳ ὥρισται καὶ τῇ δυνάμει, ὤστεμηκέτι τοιαῦτα ὄντα οὐ λεκτέον τὰ αὐτα εἶναιἀλλ’ ὁμώνυμα; also p. 1254, a. 9: τό τε γὰρ μόριον οὐ μόνον ἄλλου ἐστὶ μόριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλου.Compare De Animâ, ii. 1, p. 412, b. 20; Meteorologic. iv. p. 390, a. 12.The doctrine enunciated in these passages is a very important one, in the Aristotelian philosophy.Trendelenburg (Kategorienlehre, p. 182) touches upon this confusion of the Categories, but faintly and partially.
101See Politica, i. p. 1253, a. 18: καὶ πρότερον δὴ τῇ φύσει πόλις ἢ οἰκία καὶ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ἐστίν· τὸ γὰρ ὅλον πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι τοῦ μέρους· ἀναιρουμένου γὰρ τοῦ ὅλου οὐκ ἔσται ποῦς οὐδὲ χεὶρ, εἰ μὴ ὁμωνύμως, ὥσπερ εἴ τις λέγειτὴνλιθίνην· διαφθαρεῖσα γὰρ ἔσται τοιαύτη. πάντα δὲ τῷ ἔργῳ ὥρισται καὶ τῇ δυνάμει, ὤστεμηκέτι τοιαῦτα ὄντα οὐ λεκτέον τὰ αὐτα εἶναιἀλλ’ ὁμώνυμα; also p. 1254, a. 9: τό τε γὰρ μόριον οὐ μόνον ἄλλου ἐστὶ μόριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλου.
Compare De Animâ, ii. 1, p. 412, b. 20; Meteorologic. iv. p. 390, a. 12.
The doctrine enunciated in these passages is a very important one, in the Aristotelian philosophy.
Trendelenburg (Kategorienlehre, p. 182) touches upon this confusion of the Categories, but faintly and partially.
In the fourth book of the Metaphysica, Aristotle gives an explanation ofAd Aliquiddifferent from, and superior to, that which we read in the Categoriæ; treating it, not as one among many distinct Categories, but as implicated with all the Categories, and taking a different character according as it is blended with one or the other —Essentia,Quantum,Quale,Actio,Passio, &c.102He there, also, enumerates as one of the varieties ofRelata, what seems to go beyond the limit, or at least beyond the direct denotation, of the Categories; for, having specified, as one variety,Relata Numero, and, as another,Relata secundum actionem et passionem(τὸ θερμαντικὸν πρὸς τὸ θερμαντόν, &c.), he proceeds to a third variety, such as themensurabilewith reference tomensura, thescibilewith reference toscientia, thecogitabilewith reference tocogitatio; and in regard to this third variety, he draws a nice distinction. He says thatmensuraandcogitatioareAd Aliquid, not because they are themselves related tomensurabileandcogitabile, but becausemensurabileandcogitabileare related to them.103You cannot say (he thinks) thatmensurais referableto themensurabile, orcogitatioto thecogitabile, because that would be repeating the same word twice over —mensura est illius cujus est mensura—cogitatio est illius cujus est cogitatio.So that he regardsmensuraandcogitatioasCorrelata, rather than asRelata; whilemensurabileandcogitabileare theRelatato them. But in point of fact, the distinction is not important; of the relative pair there may be one which is more properly called theCorrelatum; yet both are alike relative.
102Metaphys.Δ. p. 1020, b. 27-32. At the same time we must remark, that while Aristotle enumerates τὸ ὑπέρεχον and τὸ ὑπερεχόμενον under Πρός τι, he had just before (a. 25) ranked τὸ μέγα καὶ τὸ μικρόν, τὸ μεῖζον καὶ τὸ ἕλαττον, under the general head Ποσόν — as ποσοῦ πάθη καθ’ αὑτά.
102Metaphys.Δ. p. 1020, b. 27-32. At the same time we must remark, that while Aristotle enumerates τὸ ὑπέρεχον and τὸ ὑπερεχόμενον under Πρός τι, he had just before (a. 25) ranked τὸ μέγα καὶ τὸ μικρόν, τὸ μεῖζον καὶ τὸ ἕλαττον, under the general head Ποσόν — as ποσοῦ πάθη καθ’ αὑτά.
103Metaphys.Δ. p. 1021, a. 26, b. 3; alsoI. p. 1056, b. 34. Bonitz in his note (p. 262) remarks that the distinction here drawn by Aristotle is not tenable; and I agree with him that it is not. But it coincides with what Aristotle asserts in other words in the Categoriæ; viz., that to besimul naturâis not true ofallRelata, but only of the greater part of them; that τὸ αἰσθητὸν is πρότερον τῆς αἰσθήσεως, and τὸ ἐπιστητὸν πρότερον τῆς ἐπιστήμης (Categor. p. 7, b. 23; p. 8, a. 10). As I have mentioned before (p. 71 n.), Simplikius, in the Scholia (p. 65, b. 14), points out that Aristotle has not been careful here to observe his own precept of selecting οἰκείως the correlative term. He ought to have stated the potential as correlating with the potential, the actual with the actual. If he had done this, the συνύπαρξις τῶν πρός τι would have been seen to be true in all cases. Eudorus noticed a similar inadvertence of Aristotle in the case of πτέρον and πτερωτόν (Schol. 63, a. 43). See ‘Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates,’ vol. ii. p. 330,notex.I transcribe a curious passage of Leibnitz, bearing on the same question:— “On réplique maintenant, que la vérité du mouvement est indépendante de l’observation: et qu’un vaisseau peut avancer, sans que celui qui est dedans s’en aperçoive. Je réponds, que le mouvement est indépendant de l’observation: mais qu’iln’est point indépendant de l’observabilité. Il n’y a point de mouvement, quand il n’y a point de changementobservable. Et même quand il n’y a point de changement observable, il n’y a point de changement du tout. Le contraire est fondé sur la supposition d’un Espace réel absolu, que j’ai réfuté demonstrativement par le principe du besoin d’une Raison suffisante des choses.â€� (Correspondence with Clarke, p. 770. Erdmann’s edition.)
103Metaphys.Δ. p. 1021, a. 26, b. 3; alsoI. p. 1056, b. 34. Bonitz in his note (p. 262) remarks that the distinction here drawn by Aristotle is not tenable; and I agree with him that it is not. But it coincides with what Aristotle asserts in other words in the Categoriæ; viz., that to besimul naturâis not true ofallRelata, but only of the greater part of them; that τὸ αἰσθητὸν is πρότερον τῆς αἰσθήσεως, and τὸ ἐπιστητὸν πρότερον τῆς ἐπιστήμης (Categor. p. 7, b. 23; p. 8, a. 10). As I have mentioned before (p. 71 n.), Simplikius, in the Scholia (p. 65, b. 14), points out that Aristotle has not been careful here to observe his own precept of selecting οἰκείως the correlative term. He ought to have stated the potential as correlating with the potential, the actual with the actual. If he had done this, the συνύπαρξις τῶν πρός τι would have been seen to be true in all cases. Eudorus noticed a similar inadvertence of Aristotle in the case of πτέρον and πτερωτόν (Schol. 63, a. 43). See ‘Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates,’ vol. ii. p. 330,notex.
I transcribe a curious passage of Leibnitz, bearing on the same question:— “On réplique maintenant, que la vérité du mouvement est indépendante de l’observation: et qu’un vaisseau peut avancer, sans que celui qui est dedans s’en aperçoive. Je réponds, que le mouvement est indépendant de l’observation: mais qu’iln’est point indépendant de l’observabilité. Il n’y a point de mouvement, quand il n’y a point de changementobservable. Et même quand il n’y a point de changement observable, il n’y a point de changement du tout. Le contraire est fondé sur la supposition d’un Espace réel absolu, que j’ai réfuté demonstrativement par le principe du besoin d’une Raison suffisante des choses.� (Correspondence with Clarke, p. 770. Erdmann’s edition.)
If we compare together the various passages in which Aristotle cites and applies the Ten Categories (not merely in the treatise before us, but also in the Metaphysica, Physica, and elsewhere), we shall see that he cannot keep them apart steadily and constantly; that the same predicate is referred to one head in one place, and to another head in another: what is here spoken of as belonging toActioorPassio, will be treated in another place as an instance ofQualeorAd Aliquid; even the derivative noun ἕξις (habitus) does not belong to the Category ἔχειν (Habere), but sometimes toQuale, sometimes toAd Aliquid.104This is inevitable; for the predicates thus differently referred have really several different aspects, and may be classified in one way or another, according as you take them in this or that aspect. Moreover, this same difficulty of finding impassable lines of demarcation would still be felt, even if the Categories, instead of the full list of Ten, were reduced to the smaller list of the four principal Categories — Substance, Quantity, Quality, and Relation; a reduction which has been recommended by commentators on Aristotle as well as by acute logicians of modern times. Even these four cannot be kept clearly apart: the predicates which declare Quantity or Quality must at the same time declare or imply Relation; while the predicates which declare Relationmust also imply thefundamentumeither of Quantity or of Quality.105
104Aristot. Categor. p. 6, b. 2; p. 8, b. 27.
104Aristot. Categor. p. 6, b. 2; p. 8, b. 27.
105See Trendelenburg, Kategorienlehre, p. 117, seq.The remarks made by Mr. John Stuart Mill (in his System of Logic, book i. ch. iii.) upon the Aristotelian Categories, and the enlarged philosophical arrangement which he introduces in their place, well deserve to be studied. After enumerating the ten Predicaments, Mr. Mill says:— “It is a mere catalogue of the distinctions rudely marked out by the language of familiar life, with little or no attempt to penetrate, by philosophic analysis, to therationaleeven of these common distinctions. Such an analysis would have shewn the enumeration to be both redundant and defective. Some objects are omitted, and others repeated several times under different heads.â€� (Compare the remarks of the Stoic commentators, and Porphyry, Schol. p. 48, b. 10 Br.: ἀθετοῦντες τὴν διαίρεσιν ὡς πολλὰ παριεῖσαν καὶ μὴ περιλαμβάνουσαν, ἢ καὶ πάλιν πλεονάζουσαν. And Aristotle himself observes that the same predicates might be ranked often under more than one head.) “That could not be a very comprehensive view of the nature of Relation, which could exclude action, passivity, and local situation from that category. The same objection applies to the categories Quando (or position in time), and Ubi (or position in space);while the distinction between the latter and Situs(Κεῖσθαι)is merely verbal. The incongruity of erecting into asummum genusthe tenth Category is manifest. On the other hand, the enumeration takes no notice of any thing but Substances and Attributes. In what Category are we to place sensations, or any other feelings and states of mind? as hope, joy, fear; sound, smell, taste; pain, pleasure; thought, judgment, conception, and the like? Probably all these would have been placed by the Aristotelian school in the Categories of Actio and Passio; and the relation of such of them as are active, to their objects, and of such of them as are passive, to their causes, would have been rightly so placed; but the things themselves, the feelings or states of mind, wrongly. Feelings, or states of consciousness, are assuredly to be counted among realities; but they cannot be reckoned either among substances or among attributes.â€�Among the many deficiencies of the Aristotelian Categories, as a complete catalogue, there is none more glaring than the imperfect conception of Πρός τι (the Relative), which Mr. Mill here points out. But the Category Κεῖσθαι (badly translated by commentatorsSitus, from which Aristotle expressly distinguishes it, Categor. p. 6, b. 12: τὸ δὲ ἀνακεῖσθαι ἢ ἑστάναι ἢ καθῆσθαι αὐτὰ μὲν οὐκ εἰσὶ θέσεις) appears to be hardly open to Mr. Mill’s remark, that it is only verbally distinguished from Ποῦ,Ubi. Κεῖσθαι is intended to meanposture,attitude, &c. It is a reply to the question, In what posture is Sokrates? Answer. — He is lying down, standing upright, kneeling, πὺξ προτείνων, &c. This is quite different from the question, Where is Sokrates? In the market-place, in the palæstra, &c. Κεῖσθαι (as Aristotle himself admits, Categ. p. 6, b. 12) is not easily distinguished from Πρός τι: for the abstract and general wordθέσις(position) is reckoned by Aristotle under Πρός τι, though theparonymaἀνακεῖσθαι, ἑστάναι, καθῆσθαι are affirmed not to be θέσεις, but to come under the separate CategoryΚεῖσθαι. But Κεῖσθαι is clearly distinguishable from ΠοῦUbi.Again, to Mr. Mill’s question, “In what Category are we to place sensations or other states of mind — hope, fear, sound, smell, pain, pleasure, thought, judgment,â€� &c.? Aristotle would have replied (I apprehend) that they come under the Category either ofQualeor ofPati— Ποιότητες or Πάθη. They are attributes or modifications of Man, Kallias, Sokrates, &c. If the condition of which we speak be temporary or transitory, it is a πάθος, and we speak of Kallias as πάσχων τι; if it be a durable disposition or capacity likely to pass into repeated manifestations, it is ποιότης, and we describe Kallias as ποιός τις (Categ. p. 9, a. 28-p. 10 a. 9). This equally applies to mental and bodily conditions (ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν παθητικαὶ ποιότητες καὶ πάθη λέγεται. — p. 9, b. 33). The line is dubious and difficult between πάθος and ποιότης, but one or other of the two will comprehend all the mental states indicated by Mr. Mill. Aristotle would not have admitted that “feelings are to be counted among realities,â€� except as they are now or may be the feelings of Kallias, Sokrates, or some otherHic Aliquis— one or many. He would consider feelings as attributes belonging to these Πρῶται Οὐσίαι; and so in fact Mr. Mill himself considers them (p. 83), after having specified the Mind (distinguished from Body or external object) as the Substance to which they belong.Mr. Mill’s classification of Nameable Things is much better and more complete than the Aristotelian Categories, inasmuch as it brings into full prominence the distinction between the subjective and objective points of view, and, likewise, the all-pervading principle of Relativity, which implicates the two; whereas, Aristotle either confuses the one with the other, or conceives them narrowly and inadequately. But we cannot say, I think, that Aristotle, in the Categories, assigns no room for the mental states or elements. He has a place for them, though he treats them altogether objectively. He takes account ofhimselfonly as an object — as one among the πρῶται οὐσίαι, or individuals, along with Sokrates and Kallias.
105See Trendelenburg, Kategorienlehre, p. 117, seq.
The remarks made by Mr. John Stuart Mill (in his System of Logic, book i. ch. iii.) upon the Aristotelian Categories, and the enlarged philosophical arrangement which he introduces in their place, well deserve to be studied. After enumerating the ten Predicaments, Mr. Mill says:— “It is a mere catalogue of the distinctions rudely marked out by the language of familiar life, with little or no attempt to penetrate, by philosophic analysis, to therationaleeven of these common distinctions. Such an analysis would have shewn the enumeration to be both redundant and defective. Some objects are omitted, and others repeated several times under different heads.â€� (Compare the remarks of the Stoic commentators, and Porphyry, Schol. p. 48, b. 10 Br.: ἀθετοῦντες τὴν διαίρεσιν ὡς πολλὰ παριεῖσαν καὶ μὴ περιλαμβάνουσαν, ἢ καὶ πάλιν πλεονάζουσαν. And Aristotle himself observes that the same predicates might be ranked often under more than one head.) “That could not be a very comprehensive view of the nature of Relation, which could exclude action, passivity, and local situation from that category. The same objection applies to the categories Quando (or position in time), and Ubi (or position in space);while the distinction between the latter and Situs(Κεῖσθαι)is merely verbal. The incongruity of erecting into asummum genusthe tenth Category is manifest. On the other hand, the enumeration takes no notice of any thing but Substances and Attributes. In what Category are we to place sensations, or any other feelings and states of mind? as hope, joy, fear; sound, smell, taste; pain, pleasure; thought, judgment, conception, and the like? Probably all these would have been placed by the Aristotelian school in the Categories of Actio and Passio; and the relation of such of them as are active, to their objects, and of such of them as are passive, to their causes, would have been rightly so placed; but the things themselves, the feelings or states of mind, wrongly. Feelings, or states of consciousness, are assuredly to be counted among realities; but they cannot be reckoned either among substances or among attributes.â€�
Among the many deficiencies of the Aristotelian Categories, as a complete catalogue, there is none more glaring than the imperfect conception of Πρός τι (the Relative), which Mr. Mill here points out. But the Category Κεῖσθαι (badly translated by commentatorsSitus, from which Aristotle expressly distinguishes it, Categor. p. 6, b. 12: τὸ δὲ ἀνακεῖσθαι ἢ ἑστάναι ἢ καθῆσθαι αὐτὰ μὲν οὐκ εἰσὶ θέσεις) appears to be hardly open to Mr. Mill’s remark, that it is only verbally distinguished from Ποῦ,Ubi. Κεῖσθαι is intended to meanposture,attitude, &c. It is a reply to the question, In what posture is Sokrates? Answer. — He is lying down, standing upright, kneeling, πὺξ προτείνων, &c. This is quite different from the question, Where is Sokrates? In the market-place, in the palæstra, &c. Κεῖσθαι (as Aristotle himself admits, Categ. p. 6, b. 12) is not easily distinguished from Πρός τι: for the abstract and general wordθέσις(position) is reckoned by Aristotle under Πρός τι, though theparonymaἀνακεῖσθαι, ἑστάναι, καθῆσθαι are affirmed not to be θέσεις, but to come under the separate CategoryΚεῖσθαι. But Κεῖσθαι is clearly distinguishable from ΠοῦUbi.
Again, to Mr. Mill’s question, “In what Category are we to place sensations or other states of mind — hope, fear, sound, smell, pain, pleasure, thought, judgment,â€� &c.? Aristotle would have replied (I apprehend) that they come under the Category either ofQualeor ofPati— Ποιότητες or Πάθη. They are attributes or modifications of Man, Kallias, Sokrates, &c. If the condition of which we speak be temporary or transitory, it is a πάθος, and we speak of Kallias as πάσχων τι; if it be a durable disposition or capacity likely to pass into repeated manifestations, it is ποιότης, and we describe Kallias as ποιός τις (Categ. p. 9, a. 28-p. 10 a. 9). This equally applies to mental and bodily conditions (ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν παθητικαὶ ποιότητες καὶ πάθη λέγεται. — p. 9, b. 33). The line is dubious and difficult between πάθος and ποιότης, but one or other of the two will comprehend all the mental states indicated by Mr. Mill. Aristotle would not have admitted that “feelings are to be counted among realities,â€� except as they are now or may be the feelings of Kallias, Sokrates, or some otherHic Aliquis— one or many. He would consider feelings as attributes belonging to these Πρῶται Οὐσίαι; and so in fact Mr. Mill himself considers them (p. 83), after having specified the Mind (distinguished from Body or external object) as the Substance to which they belong.
Mr. Mill’s classification of Nameable Things is much better and more complete than the Aristotelian Categories, inasmuch as it brings into full prominence the distinction between the subjective and objective points of view, and, likewise, the all-pervading principle of Relativity, which implicates the two; whereas, Aristotle either confuses the one with the other, or conceives them narrowly and inadequately. But we cannot say, I think, that Aristotle, in the Categories, assigns no room for the mental states or elements. He has a place for them, though he treats them altogether objectively. He takes account ofhimselfonly as an object — as one among the πρῶται οὐσίαι, or individuals, along with Sokrates and Kallias.
The most capital distinction, however, which is to be found among the Categories is that of Essence or Substance from all the rest. This is sometimes announced as having a standingper se; as not only logically distinguishable, but really separable from the other nine, if we preserve the Aristotelian list of ten,106or from the other three, if we prefer the reduced list of four. But such real separation cannot be maintained. ThePrima Essentia(we are told) is indispensable as a Subject, but cannot appear as Predicate; while all the rest can and do so appear. Now we see that this definition is founded upon the function enacted by each of them in predication, and therefore presupposes the fact of predication, which is in itself a Relation. The Category of Relation is thus implied, in declaring what the First Essence is, together with somepredicabiliaas correlates, though it is not yet specified what thepredicabiliaare. But besides this, the distinction drawn by Aristotle, between First and Second Essence or Substance, abolishes the marked line of separation between Substance and Quality, making the former shade down into the latter. The distinction recognizes a more or less in Substance, which graduation Aristotle expressly points out, stating that the Species ismoreSubstance or Essence, and that Genuslessso. We see thus that he did not conceive Substance (apart from attributes) according to the modern view, as that which existswithoutthe mind (excludingwithinthe mind orrelationto the mind); for in that there can be no graduation. That which is without the mind, must also be within; and that which is within must also be without; the subject and the object correlating. This implication of within and without understood, there is then room for graduation, according as the one or the other aspect may be more or less prominent. Aristotle, in point of fact, confines himself to the mental or logical work of predication, to the conditions thereof, and to the component terms whereby the mind accomplishes that act. When he speaks of the First Essence or Substance, without the Second, all that hecan say about it positively is to call itUnum numeroand indivisible:107even thus, he is compelled to introduce unity, measure, and number, all of which belong to the two Categories of Quantity and Relation; and yet still the First Essence or Substance remains indeterminate. We only begin to determine it when we call it by the name of the Second Substance or Essence; which name connotes certain attributes, the attributes thus connoted being of the essence of the Species; that is, unless they be present, no individual would be considered as belonging to the Species, or would be called by the specific name.108When we thus, however, introduce attributes, we find ourselves not merely in the Category ofSubstantia(Secunda), but also in that ofQualitas. The boundary betweenSubstantiaandQualitasdisappears; the latter being partially contained in the former. The Second Substance or Essence includes attributes or Qualities belonging to the Essence. In fact, the Second Substance or Essence, when distinguished from the First, is both here and elsewhere characterized by Aristotle, as being not Substance at all, but Quality,109though when considered as being in implication with the First, it takes on the nature of Substance and becomes substantial or essential Quality. The Differentia belongs thus both to Substance and to Quality (quale quid), making up as complement that which is designated by the specific name.110