The Categories
by Aristotle (-384–-322)
- Free to read
- 60 min read
- 15 chapters
- Reading level: 8th & 9th grade
"The Categories" by Aristotle is a philosophical text from ancient Greece that enumerates all possible kinds of things that can be the subject or predicate of a proposition. This foundational work divides everything in human experience into ten fundamental categories, distinguishing between what can be said "of" versus "in" a subject. Aristotle explores substances, quantities, qualities, and relations, providing a framework for understanding reality that influenced medieval philosophy and sparked centuries of debate about language, logic, and existence.
- Categories (Philosophy)
- Logic · Early works to 1800
- Philosophy, Ancient
Read the opening
Part 1
Things are said to be named 'equivocally' when, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. Thus, a real man and a figure in a picture can both lay claim to the name 'animal'; yet these are equivocally so named, for, though they have a common name, the definition corresponding with the name differs for each. For should any one define in what sense each is an animal, his definition in the one case will be appropriate to that case only.
On the other hand, things are said to be named 'univocally' which have both the name and the definition answering to the name in common. A man and an ox are both 'animal', and these are univocally so named, inasmuch as not only the name, but also the definition, is the same in both cases: for if a man should state in what sense each is an animal, the statement in the one case would be identical with that in the other.
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About this edition
This free edition of The Categories by Aristotle comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #2412, released 2000-11-01. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: History - Ancient, Language & Communication, Philosophy & Ethics.
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