Ebook: Questions and Categories: Aristotle’s Doctrine of Categories in the Light of Modern Research

Abstract: The topic “questions and categories” is suggested by the fact that, in the original list of categories given by Aristotle, the names of six out of ten categories are interrogative in form: What is it? (τίέστι), How much? (ποσόυ), Of what sort? (ποιόν, qualis), Towards what? or Relative to what? (πόρςτι), Where? (που) and When? (ποτϵ)-1 And in the case of the four categories whose names are not interrogative in form, it is easy to represent them as answers to questions: What did he do? for action (ποιϵίυ); What did he suffer? for passion or being-acted-upon (πάσχϵιυ); What is he wearing? or How is he disposed? for the category of having or habitus (έχϵιυ); and What is his position? or How is he situated? for posture or situs (Кϵίσθαι). Hence it is an old observation, made by William of Ockham and probably not for the first time, that Aristotle’s classification of the categories is derived from a list of interrogative forms or questions asked in reference to a given subject - in reference to a man, for example, or some other individual substance. As Ockham says, every uncombined term (i.e. every uncombined word or concept) “by which one can answer a question posed concerning a substance is in some category. …But other uncombined terms are not in any category.”2 The categories of Aristotle do not represent a complete logical inventory, a classification of all terms or concepts represented in language. They do attempt to classify all the terms of a basic object language, where these terms are specified by the questions that can be asked or answered concerning an individual subject.