Description
Simplicius' commentary on Aristotle's Categories is the most comprehensive philosophical critique of the work ever written, representing 600 years of criticism. In his Categories, Aristotle divides what exists in the sensible world into ten categories, including Substance, Quantity, Relative, and Quality. Simplicius starts with a survey of previous commentators and an introductory set of questions about Aristotle's philosophy and about the Categories in particular. The commentator, he says, needs to present Plato and Aristotle as in harmony in most things.
Why were precisely ten categories named, given that Plato managed with fewer distinctions? Where in the scheme of categories would one fit a quality that defines a substance - under substance or under quality? In his own commentary, Porphyry suggested classifying a defining quality as something distinct, a substantial quality, but others objected that this would constitute an eleventh category. The most persistent question dealt with in Simplicius' commentary is whether the categories classify words, concepts, or things.
Why were precisely ten categories named, given that Plato managed with fewer distinctions? Where in the scheme of categories would one fit a quality that defines a substance - under substance or under quality? In his own commentary, Porphyry suggested classifying a defining quality as something distinct, a substantial quality, but others objected that this would constitute an eleventh category. The most persistent question dealt with in Simplicius' commentary is whether the categories classify words, concepts, or things.
