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Exploring Aristotelian Categories

Much of this was taken from Jason Costanzo’s lecture on YouTube. Thank you for providing the free content. I’m providing my notes from the lecture here.

Aristotle’s philosophy introduced a framework of categories that help describe and analyze the nature of reality. These categories serve as fundamental ways to classify aspects of the world, focusing on different dimensions of being and understanding. Below is a quick summary of some key categories, including Action vs. Passion, Time and Place, Quality, and Relation.

Words as Signs

Aristotle on the Soul / Perception

The Organon (= The Instrument)

Aristotle discovered the laws of logic, compiling them into texts later referred to as the Organon:

The Categories

Relations among Terms

  1. Homonymous / Two Types:
    • A. Equivocal: Same terms, but distinct in sense.
    • “pen” as writing instrument and pig “pen.”
    • “date” as fruit and “date” as meeting. - B. Analogical: Different terms, but similar in sense.
    • “healthy” said of body, medicine, exercise, food.
    • “animal” said of Socrates and a picture of Socrates.
  2. Synonymous (or Univocal): Same term, same sense.
    • “human” as applied equally of Peter and Mary.
    • “color” as applied to Red and Blue.
  3. Paronymous: Things sharing common terminological roots.
    • “grammar” versus “grammatical.”

Other Categories

Relation

Quality

Quantity

Substance vs. Accident