The Ten Categories of Being

Aristotle

We looked at the problem of universals and we saw that in dealing with this, Plato reasoned that there is a world of forms separate from this sensible world, and in this world exists all the forms or essences. They exist in their pure intelligibility, as eternal and unchanging.

And so for Plato, the primary mode of being is “form” or “essences”.

This is not so for Aristotle. According to Aristotle, forms are in things, not in some separate world of ideas. And so the primary mode of being for Aristotle is “thing” or “entity”, or what he calls “substance”.

The Ten Categories of Being

For Aristotle, there are 10 modes of being, that is, 10 ways to exist. The first way is primary, namely, substance. The other nine ways are secondary. These modes of being “exist in” substance, and these are called ‘accidents’.

1. Substance (principal mode of being) ie Sammy the snake.

Accidents (secondary modes of being).

2. Quantity: ie sammy the snake is 8ft in length, very thick. There is a lot of sammy here.

3. Quality: Sammy has tough skin, he can wrap himself around my neck and strangle me. He is long in shape and graceful. He has gold skin with dark brown spots. He is disposed to agitation if you approach him quickly. He can't see close up if it is too bright outside, he can't move quickly.

Quality

affective qualities (colour, texture, etc)

abilities and debilities (ability to grow, or walk)

habit and disposition (flammable, or mechanically disposed

form and figure (round, square, etc)

4. The Relative (Relation): Sammy is equal in length to his brother snake. In fact, Sammy has a brother (relative).

5. Action: Sammy gets out of his glass cage and chases a cat.

6. Passion (to undergo): The cat is getting swallowed by Sammy.

7. Where (place): Sammy is somewhere in the building. We better go find him and capture him before he scares some old lady half to death.

8. Posture: Now be careful, because Sammy is capable (Quality) of hiding himself well. He can roll himself up and tuck himself into a tight corner (posture).

9. When (time): When did Sammy escape? That will allow us to estimate where he is now.

10. State: To help you recognize Sammy you should be aware that he is the only snake in the Zoo that is wearing a certain ornament around his neck. It's a blue ribbon with a happy face medallion on it. You can't miss it!

Accidents exist in a substance. They inhere in a substance. The substance is that in which the accidents inhere. Substance is the substratum of the accidental modes of being. They actuate the substance in an accidental way, that is, in a way that does not change the substance itself.

The first accident quantifies a substance. A human being, for instance, was at one time smaller than your hand. He/she increased in quantity and is now six foot five inches, three hundred pounds. But even though his quantity changed, he/she (the substance) remained the same substance.

Quality qualifies a substance in an accidental way. You may change color after sitting in the sun, yet you are the same substance.

Note: If quantity = substance, then it follows that a change in quantity would amount to a change in substance. Bubba the Glutton would become a different substance the instant he gained any weight (after his body digested the dozen donuts he ate). But Bubba remains Bubba whether he loses or gains, whether there is more of him or less of him. It's still him.

Therefore: Quantity is distinct from substance (not separate). Quantity is a distinct mode of being (even though all substances have quantity).

Consider: The Medieval thinkers were able to use this doctrine of substance in order to show that what Catholics believe regarding the Eucharist is not irrational. They argued that it is indeed possible, if God so chooses to work the miracle, for the “substance” of Christ’s body to exist under the appearance of bread and wine.

Transubstantiation refers to the “changing of the substance of bread into the substance of Christ’s body; the changing of the substance of wine into the substance of Christ’s blood.

The substance of bread changes, while the accidents of the bread (quantity, color, taste, etc) remain the same. The substance of wine changes while the accidents of wine (quantity, color, taste, etc) remain the same.