The Categories and Aristotle's Ontology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9688845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mohan Matthen (0000-0003-0186-3812, University of Calgary, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 228-243 |
| Publication date | 1978-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Dialogue (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-2173 • E-ISSN: 1759-0949 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0012217300024318 |
| OpenAlex | W2082867500 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 6 |
What were Aristotle's aims in the Categories ? We can probably all agree that he wanted to say something about different uses of the verb ‘to be’ – something relevant to ontology. The conventional interpretation goes further: it has Books Γ and Z of the Metaphysics superseding theories put forward in the Categories . We should expect then that the Categories and these books of the Metaphysics try to do the same sort of thing. Most exegetes do indeed ascribe to the earlier work fairly elaborate ontologies, though they are in disagreement as to what theory Aristotle held while writing it. I shall argue in this paper that the whole enterprise of reconstructing the ontology of the Categories from its small stock of clues is misguided; that the business of the Categories is to set out data for which the Metaphysics tries to account. This view is not without consequences relevant to some widely held theses. I shall claim that the differences between the Categories and the Metaphysics cannot uncritically be used to trace the development of Aristotle's ontology, that the differences between the two doctrines has been greatly exaggerated. More of this later: let me first explain the distinction on which I shall depend
Epistemology · Information retrieval · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Metaphysics · Ontology · Presentism · Set (abstract data type) · sort · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Verb · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Computer Science · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.04 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2002 - 2002 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |