Aristotle - The Organon - index for TOPICA Book 5 Part 1

Essential and Relative Properties

Paragraph 1 The question whether the attribute stated is or is not a property, should be examined by the following methods:

Paragraph 2 Any 'property' rendered is always either essential and permanent or relative and temporary:

Paragraph 3 [The rendering of a property 'relatively' gives rise either to two problems or to four.

Paragraph 4 An 'essential' property is one which is rendered of a thing in comparison with everything else and distinguishes the said thing from everything else, as does 'a mortal living being capable of receiving knowledge' in the case of man.

Paragraph 5 To render a property 'relatively' to something else means to state the difference between them as it is found either universally and always, or generally and in most cases:

Paragraph 6 Of 'properties' the most 'arguable' are the essential and permanent and the relative.

Paragraph 7 The so-called 'relative' property, then, should be examined by means of the commonplace arguments relating to Accident, to see whether it belongs to the one thing and not to the other:

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created 1996/11/25 modified 2009/04/26


Paragraph 1	The question whether the attribute stated is or is not a property, should be examined by the following methods:
Paragraph 2	Any 'property' rendered is always either essential and permanent or relative and temporary:
Paragraph 3	[The rendering of a property 'relatively' gives rise either to two problems or to four.
Paragraph 4	An 'essential' property is one which is rendered of a thing in comparison with everything else and distinguishes the said thing from everything else, as does 'a mortal living being capable of receiving knowledge' in the case of man.
Paragraph 5	To render a property 'relatively' to something else means to state the difference between them as it is found either universally and always, or generally and in most cases:
Paragraph 6	Of 'properties' the most 'arguable' are the essential and permanent and the relative.
Paragraph 7	The so-called 'relative' property, then, should be examined by means of the commonplace arguments relating to Accident, to see whether it belongs to the one thing and not to the other: