“The being is said in many ways...”. With this phrase, Aristotle founds a new discursive way of reaching the truth of things. No longer the dialogue, as in Plato, but from the instrument of thinking.
First, it is necessary to define the concept of substance for Aristotle. According to the thinker, it is the support or substrate through which matter is constituted in something following a form. It is in the substance that the famous four causes act. The philosopher divides substance into two:
The first substance refers to the particular, individual, actually existing beings in which we can have sensations (immediate reference). In this substance are contained both the essence how much the accidents (eg: Socrates). The second substance, on the other hand, refers to the universals abstracted from individuals (that is why they are references mediated by thought, by reasoning). Its existence depends on individuals, which are classified into genera and species. Substance is always subject, that is, what is said, what is attributed.
The definition of essence refers to that which holds an identity with itself, an internal unity without which there is no determination and everything is mixed, indistinguishable. These are the characteristics of beings (eg: the essence of man is to be animal, rational, mammal, biped, etc.). The accident, in turn, is what is not necessary in a being, without which the being does not cease to be what is, either by absence or by presence (eg, black, white, tall, short, fat, thin, rich, poor men). These are attributions that refer to the individual, but do not define him.
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However, to attribute something to a subject, there must be predicates or categories that say being in various ways. Aristotle considers the existence of nine categories with which to say about being. Are they:
- Quality;
- The amount;
- Relationship;
- Place;
- Position;
- Time;
- Possession;
- Action and
- Passion.
Categories are terms of propositions we declare about things. They indicate that something is, does, or still is. They are seized directly, without the need for demonstration. They are not knowledge, as they derive from a set of declarative propositions from which a conclusion is drawn. It's the famous syllogism. Categories have the following properties:
- Extension: set of things determined by a category;
- Understanding: set of characteristics that a category designates.
We have that the greater the extension of a category or term, the less understanding will be and vice versa. Socrates it is just an individual (smaller extension and greater understanding); already Man it is a set (greater extension and less understanding).
This distinction allows you to classify the categories into:
- Gender: greater extension, less understanding. E.g.: animal.
- Species: average length and average understanding. E.g.: man.
- Individual: lesser extension and greater understanding. E.g.: Socrates.
In this way, Aristotle could build his logic as an instrument of correct thinking through syllogisms.
By João Francisco P. Cabral
Brazil School Collaborator
Graduated in Philosophy from the Federal University of Uberlândia - UFU
Master's student in Philosophy at the State University of Campinas - UNICAMP
Philosophy - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
CABRAL, João Francisco Pereira. "Substance and Categories in Aristotle"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/filosofia/substancia-categorias-aristoteles.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
