The Categories

Aristotle, 384 BCE-322 BCEProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.3

Word count: 82K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Categories by AristotleAuthor: Aristotle, 384 BCE-322 BCE,Language: English, Class: B: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Release Date: Nov 1, 2000

Editor's review

The Categories is a foundational text of Aristotle's logic and metaphysics: brief in length but extremely dense in concepts. It discusses substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, and other categories, sets out the framework of the "ten categories" that later dominated Western philosophical discussion, and draws basic distinctions such as "said of a subject" and "present in a subject." For Chinese readers, the value of this book lies not in offering an easy reading experience but in its being a key: understanding medieval logic, Kant's table of categories, and many problems in modern analytic philosophy requires returning here. In reading, one need not aim to exhaust it at once; one can first grasp the distinction between substance and accident, then gradually enter the difficult points of the category of relation. It is suitable as an advanced text after an introduction to philosophy, to be studied repeatedly alongside commentaries or guides.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Undergraduate or graduate students in philosophy who need to fill gaps in their foundations in ancient Greek logic
Serious readers interested in the origins of Western metaphysics
Readers preparing to study medieval philosophy or Kant's philosophy
Those who wish to understand systematically how the concept of "category" originated

Not a good fit for

Readers with no experience of reading philosophy who expect an easy introduction
General readers who only want story-driven or plot-driven content
Readers who hope to quickly grasp the whole of Aristotle
Readers lacking patience for the analysis of terminology

Reading tips

First read an introductory or annotated edition's preface to understand the basic framework of the ten categories before entering the main text.
On the first pass, focus only on the distinction between substance and attribute; leave chapters such as relation and opposition for a careful second reading.
Keep paper and pen at hand and jot down definitions and examples of the categories to help make the abstract discussion concrete.
Read alongside a concise history of Greek philosophy to avoid understanding concepts in isolation.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read The Categories directly without any philosophical background?

You can try, but it will be rather demanding. The book is short but rests on a great many presupposed terms. It is advisable first to read an introductory work on ancient Greek philosophy, or to choose an edition with detailed annotations, looking up terms as you read; otherwise it is easy to lose the thread in the first few chapters.

What is the relationship between this book and Aristotle's other works?

The Categories is usually grouped among Aristotle's logical works and, together with On Interpretation, Prior Analytics, and others, forms what later came to be called the Organon. It discusses the basic classification of language and being and is one of the starting points for understanding his metaphysics and logic.

Is the English version difficult to read?

The original is in ancient Greek, and English translations tend to use academic vocabulary and compact syntax. If your English reading is adequate, you can get through it with an annotated edition; if your English is weaker, a reliable Chinese translation or a bilingual Chinese-English reading is advisable, so as not to spend too much energy on terminology.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Aristotle, 384 BCE-322 BCE Author

Aristotle (384 BCE–322 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher whose works have had a profound influence on the later history of Western thought. This library holds 15 of his works, covering ethics, politics, psychology, and literary theory. Among them, the Nicomachean Ethics survives in separate volumes and discusses virtue and happiness; On the Soul investigates the principles of life and perception; The Athenian Constitution examines the institutions of the city-state; and the Poetics systematically analyzes tragedy and mimesis. These texts, mostly in the form of lecture notes or treatises, are rigorous in argument and clear in terminology, combining systematic scope with empirical observation. Because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here; readers may turn to these works to appreciate the breadth and depth of his thought.