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Single Idea 16140

[filed under theme 9. Objects / B. Unity of Objects / 2. Substance / c. Types of substance ]

Full Idea

The concept of substance applies to secondary substances only with some deletions; ..it is not true that they have no subjects, and hence they are not ultimate subjects for all other elements of the ontology.

Gist of Idea

Secondary substances do have subjects, so they are not ultimate in the ontology

Source

report of Aristotle (Categories [c.331 BCE]) by Michael Frede - Title, Unity, Authenticity of the 'Categories' V

Book Ref

Frede,Michael: 'Essays in Ancient Philosophy' [University of Minnesota 1987], p.26


A Reaction

It increasingly strikes that to treat secondary substance (roughly, species) as essence is a shocking misreading of Aristotle. Frede says they are substances, because they do indeed 'underlie'.


The 41 ideas from 'Categories'

Substance,Quantity,Quality,Relation,Place,Time,Being-in-a-position,Having,Doing,Being affected [Aristotle, by Westerhoff]
Primary being must be more than mere indeterminate ultimate subject of predication [Politis on Aristotle]
The categories (substance, quality, quantity, relation, action, passion, place, time) peter out inconsequentially [Benardete,JA on Aristotle]
Aristotle derived categories as answers to basic questions about nature, size, quality, location etc. [Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
Aristotle promoted the importance of properties and objects (rather than general and particular) [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
Aristotle gave up his earlier notion of individuals, because it relied on universals [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
Is primary substance just an ultimate subject, or some aspect of a complex body? [Aristotle, by Gill,ML]
Primary being is 'that which lies under', or 'particular substance' [Aristotle, by Politis]
Secondary substances do have subjects, so they are not ultimate in the ontology [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
In earlier Aristotle the substances were particulars, not kinds [Aristotle, by Lawson-Tancred]
Primary substances are ontological in 'Categories', and explanatory in 'Metaphysics' [Aristotle, by Wedin]
Aristotle denigrates the category of relation, but for modern absolutists self-relation is basic [Benardete,JA on Aristotle]
Only what can be said of many things is a predicable [Aristotle, by Wedin]
Earlier Aristotle had objects as primary substances, but later he switched to substantial form [Aristotle, by Lowe]
Aristotle said relations are not substances, so (if they exist) they must be accidents [Aristotle, by Heil]
Some things said 'of' a subject are not 'in' the subject [Aristotle]
Predications of predicates are predications of their subjects [Aristotle]
The differentiae of genera which are different are themselves different in kind [Aristotle]
There are ten basic categories for thinking about things [Aristotle]
A 'primary' substance is in each subject, with species or genera as 'secondary' substances [Aristotle]
Colour must be in an individual body, or it is not embodied [Aristotle]
We call them secondary 'substances' because they reveal the primary substances [Aristotle]
Genus and species are substances, because only they reveal the primary substance [Aristotle, by Wedin]
Things are called 'substances' because they are subjects for everything else [Aristotle]
A primary substance reveals a 'this', which is an individual unit [Aristotle]
Some predicates signify qualification of a substance, others the substance itself [Aristotle]
Substances have no opposites, and don't come in degrees (including if the substance is a man) [Aristotle]
A single substance can receive contrary properties [Aristotle]
Some quantities are discrete, like number, and others continuous, like lines, time and space [Aristotle]
Parts of a line join at a point, so it is continuous [Aristotle]
Without extensive examination firm statements are hard, but studying the difficulties is profitable [Aristotle]
It is not possible for fire to be cold or snow black [Aristotle]
Change goes from possession to loss (as in baldness), but not the other way round [Aristotle]
The contrary of good is bad, but the contrary of bad is either good or another evil [Aristotle]
Both sides of contraries need not exist (as health without sickness, white without black) [Aristotle]
One is prior to two, because its existence is implied by two [Aristotle]
A thing is prior to another if it implies its existence [Aristotle]
Of interdependent things, the prior one causes the other's existence [Aristotle]
A true existence statement has its truth caused by the existence of the thing [Aristotle]
There are six kinds of change: generation, destruction, increase, diminution, alteration, change of place [Aristotle]
Four species of quality: states, capacities, affects, and forms [Aristotle, by Pasnau]