Lesson Three

1
Lesson Three

• Preliminary Distinctions
• Part I, L.3

2
Two Important Distinctions

• In Logic, and in all of Philosophy in general, we
  study what is universal, since universals are
  what are comprehensible by our intellects. The
  singular is not capable of being known with the
  absolute certainty our minds naturally seek.
• Aristotle observes that All men by nature desire
  to know.

3

• The two distinctions we will be discussing today
  are the difference between what is universal and
  what is singular, and the distinction between
  substance and accident.
• Once we have made these distinctions, we will
  briefly consider how they may be combined to give
  us a clearer idea of the proper subject of Logic.

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Universal / Singular

• What is universal is that which is common to
  many.
• What is singular is that which is proper to one
  only.

5

• We use words as universal and singular, because
  this reflects our concepts.
• For example, we speak of dog in the universal
  sense when we refer to what is common to the
  entire nature (The dog is a domesticated
  animal), and also speak of dog in the singular
  (Fido is a dog.)

6

• The grammatical equivalent of this distinction
  between universal and singular is the difference
  between common and proper nouns.
• It is often the case that grammar is patterned
  after the way we think, and different grammatical
  forms come into being to reflect different
  logical ways of considering our concepts.

7

• However, Logic uses a restrictive sense of
  universal. The mind observes that a nature is
  found in or shared by many individuals. By
  abstracting from our experiences of these many
  individuals, we form concepts.
• In addition to forming its concepts, the
  intellect can also consider the relationship
  between a universal and the singulars that share
  that nature.
• This sort of universal is known as the logical
  universal.

8

• For example the relation between our concept of
  man and individual men is a relation of species,
  which is one of the Predicables we will be
  studying soon.

9

• We arrive at our universal concepts by a process
  of abstraction (literally to take out). In
  addition to considering the universal nature
  itself, we can also consider the relation of this
  universal with the singulars which partake in it.
• All this is important in order to understand the
  Predicables, which are useful in order to achieve
  our goal in the first act of the intellect to be
  able to define our concepts clearly.

10

• There are different levels of universality among
  our concepts. A concept (and consequently our
  way of using words about that concept) may be
  more or less universal than another.
• A universal concept may contain within itself
  another concept which is also universal, but less
  so.
• For example, my concept of animal is more
  universal than and includes my concept of lion.
  It also contains the concepts of fish, horse,
  dog, camel, etc., which I also understand to be
  less universal than animal but contained in it.

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• This is another aspect of the order our minds
  seek to discover in reality. We also seek,
  insofar as it is possible, to ensure that our
  concepts have the same order amongst themselves
  that the natures of things have in reality.

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Substance / Accident

• Substance is that which exists on its own,
  without needing a subject in which to exist.
• Accident is that which always exists in
  something, never on its own.

13

• For example, I exist independently, not in
  anything else. The color of my hair, however,
  does not exist outside my hair, nor does my
  height, the shape of my nose, etc. These things,
  then, are my accidents, since they need a subject
  (me) in which to exist at all. My accidents can
  change without affecting me substantially.

14

• The type of existence that an accident has is its
  inherence in a subject which is a substance.
  Thus, color is an accident because it always
  exists in a substance or subject.
• To be a substance is not to exist in a subject,
  and to be an accident is to exist in a subject.

15

• To be predicable of a subject means that
  something can be said of or predicated of a
  subject.
• Thus, animal is predicable of dog because we
  can say animal of dog
• (The dog is an animal.)
• Only what is universal is predicable of a
  subject.
• In other words, to be universal is to be
  predicable of a subject, and to be singular is
  not to be predicable of a subject.

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Four Possibilities

• Using both these distinctions (Universal/Singular
  and Substance/Accident) simultaneously gives us a
  total of four possible combinations.
• Or, to put it another way, there are four
  possible ways to relate existing in a subject
  (or not) and being predicable of a subject (or
  not).

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• First, what is it that both exists in a subject
  and is predicable of a subject?

a subject or an accident?
To exist in a subject is to be
An accident
To be predicable of a subject is to be
universal or singular?
Universal
This gives us universal accidents, for example,
whiteness.
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• Second, what is it that neither exists in a
  subject nor is predicable of a subject?

That which does not exist in a subject is
substance or accident?
Substance
And that which is not predicable of a subject is
singular or universal?
Singular
This gives us singular substance, for example,
this
horse.
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• Third, what is it that exists in a subject but is
  not predicable of a subject?

That which exists in a subject is
substance or accident?
Accident
That which is not predicable of a subject is
universal or singular?
Singular
This gives us singular accidents, such as the
shape of my nose.
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• Fourth, what is it which does not exist in a
  subject but is predicable of a subject?

That which does not exist in a subject is
substance or accident?
Substance
And that which is predicable of a subject is
universal or singular?
Universal
This gives us universal substance, such as horse
or man.
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Conclusion

• Singular substance does not exist in a subject
  and is not predicable of a subject.
• Universal substance does not exist in a subject
  and is predicable of a subject.
• Singular accident exists in a subject and is not
  predicable of a subject.
• Universal accident exists in a subject and is
  predicable of a subject.

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• What Logic is concerned with is the study of
  Universal Substance and Universal Accident.
• This is because what is knowable by our
  intellects is that which is universal. It is
  impossible to have certain knowledge of what is
  singular.