The Categories

The Categories is a foundational work in philosophy by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. This collection of stories authored by Aristotle seeks to gather many of his Nonfiction history Classics concepts into a single draft and provide them at an inexpensive price so that everyone can read them. Some stories are fascinating and fantastic while others sneak up on you and draw you in. This 4th century BCE work is a foundational examination of ontology—the study of the nature of being and existence. Aristotles Categories is a brief treatise divided into short chapters and categories each of which addresses a distinct aspect of how language and mind categorize and describe reality. The book opens with a consideration of substance highlighting the central importance of particular beings or substances in our conceptual framework. Aristotle divides substances into two categories: substances in and of themselves (particulars) and characteristics or qualities (universals). The story has so many twists and turns that can engage a reader. Some stories are gruesome and bizarre while others softly creep up on you and pull you in. This book additionally dives into other categories like quantity relation place and time and other one action to explain how these ideas impact our view of the world. Aristotle also investigates the concepts of potentiality and actuality which serve as the foundation for his metaphysical theories. Read more Continue reading Read less ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs pronounced [aristotélɛːs]; 384-322 BC)[A] was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato he was the founder of the Lyceum the Peripatetic school of philosophy and the Aristotelian tradition. His writings cover many subjects. including physics biology zoology metaphysics logic ethics estheticspoetry theatre music rhetoric psychology linguistics economics politics and government. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. It was above all from his teachings that the West inherited its intellectual lexicon as well as problems and methods of inquiry. As a result his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the West and it continues to be a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion. Little is known about his life. Aristotle was born in the city of Stagira in Northern Greece. His father Nicomachus died when Aristotle was a child and he was brought up by a guardian. At seventeen or eighteen years of age he joined Platos Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty-seven (c. 347 BC).[4] Shortly after Plato died Aristotle left Athens and at the request of Philip II of Macedon tutored Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC.[5] He established a library in the Lyceum which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues for publication only around a third of his original output has survived none of it intended for publication.[6] Aristotles views on physical science profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. Their influence extended from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance and were not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics. Some of Aristotles zoological observations found in his biology such as on the hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the octopus were disbelieved until the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and John Buridan. Aristotles influence on logic also continued well into the 19th century. He influenced Islamic thought during the Middle Ages as well as Christian theology especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as The First Teacher and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply The Philosopher. His ethics though always influential gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics such as in the thinking of Alasdair MacIntyre and Philippa Foot. Read more Continue reading Read less