Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'The Nature of Universals and Propositions' and 'Categories'

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2 ideas

19. Language / C. Assigning Meanings / 3. Predicates
Only what can be said of many things is a predicable [Aristotle, by Wedin]
     Full Idea: Aristotle reminds us that nothing is to count as predicable that cannot be said-of many things.
     From: report of Aristotle (Categories [c.331 BCE]) by Michael V. Wedin - Aristotle's Theory of Substance III.1
     A reaction: Thus there wouldn't be any predicates if there were not universals. Could we have proper names for individual qualities (tropes), in the way that we have them for individual objects?
Some predicates signify qualification of a substance, others the substance itself [Aristotle]
     Full Idea: 'White' signifies nothing but a qualification, whereas the species ('man') and the genus ('animal') mark off the qualification of substance - they signify substance of a certain qualification.
     From: Aristotle (Categories [c.331 BCE], 03b18)
     A reaction: This is making a fundamental distinction between two different types of predication. I would describe them as one attributing a real property, and the other attributing a category (as a result of the properties). I don't think 'substance' helps here.