1. Singular: summum genus

2.  The ten summa genera are divided into substantial predicates and accidental predicates.  Substantial predicates answer the question what is the subject essentially (i.e. per se)?  Q: “What is Rover essentially?”  A: “Rover is a dog, a mammal, an animal, etc.”  Accidental predicates answer the question what does the subject happen to be (i.e. per accidens)?  Q: “What does Rover happen to be?”  A: “Rover is brown, 40 inches tall, barking, in the doghouse, etc.”  Substantial predicates all fall into one category: “substance”  Accidental predicates are divided into nine categories: “accidents”

3.  The category of substance names something as a thing.  Substance includes both living and non-living things.  We can divide the category using a tree diagram called “The Tree of Porphyry”

5. Organism“Plant”AnimalMineralElementCompound SUBSTANCE MetalNon- Metal Organic Compound Inorganic Compound FungusPlantaBruteMan

6.  Accidental predicates are grouped into nine categories  Accidents are understood in one of two ways:  either by something within modifying the subject,  [There are three categories of these “intrinsic accidents”]  or by something outside modifying the subject  [There are six categories of these “extrinsic accidents”]  Examples:  INTRINSIC accident:  The fish is red.  (“Being red” is said of the fish and is understood as a color existing within the fish.)  EXTRINSIC accident:  The fish is in the whale  (“Being in the whale” is said of the fish but is understood through something outside giving location to the fish, namely the whale.)

7.  Accidents understood from something within the subject fall within three categories:  quantity, (The trout is fifteen inches long.)  quality, (The trout is hungry.)  & relation. (The trout is smaller than the angler.)  Accidents understood from something outside the subject fall within six categories:  action, (The trout is swallowing the bait.)  passion, (The trout is being caught by the angler.)  when, (The trout is caught at noon.)  where,(The trout is in the air.)  posture, (The trout is suspended from a hook.)  & habit. (The angler is shod with waders.)

8. SUBSTANCE QUANTITY QUALITY RELATION ACTION PASSION WHEN WHERE POSTURE OUTFITTING

9.  Quantity is known as something arising from the material part of the subject.  Quantity tells us “what is the amount of the subject”.  There are two kinds of quantity: multitude and magnitude  Multitude tells us “how many” of the subject: (The eggs are a dozen.)  Magnitude tells us “how much” of the subject: (The trout is fifteen inches long.)  Quality is known as something arising from the formal part of the subject:  Quality tells us “how is the subject”.  There are four kinds of quality: shape, active quality, capacity, and disposition  Shape tells us how the parts of the subject are intrinsically arranged: The egg is round.  Active quality tells us how the subject is disposed to affect things: The bird is blue.  Capacity tells us how the subject is disposed to act: The man is fast.  Disposition tells us how well the subject achieves its perfections: The man is brave.

10.  Relation is understood as something in the subject but directed to something outside the subject.  Relation tells us “how is the subject toward another”.  There are four kinds of relation: ratio, active relation, passive relation, and similarity relation.  Ratio tells us how the quantity of the subject compares to the quantity of another subject: This horse is double the size of the pony. Four is a third of twelve.  Active relation tells us how the subject relates to another according to its activity on another: Plato is the teacher of Aristotle. Abraham is the father of Isaac.  Passive relation tells us how the subject relates to another according to its being acted on by another: Tommy is the patient of Dr. Phelps. John is the brother of James.  Similarity relation tell us how the subject relates to another according to a likeness of one to the other: The Pieta is an image of Jesus and Mary.

11.  Action is understood through something outside the subject, namely, through the motion in the thing being acted upon; it tells us what the subject does.  In the category of action, usually, the predicate is in the active voice.  The batter is hitting the ball.  Action predicates can do without the copula  The batter hits the ball.  Rarely, the predicate is in the passive voice, though its meaning is still active.  The needle is being felt by the patient.  Sometimes, the thing being acted on is unstated. In this case, our mind assumes some generic subject of the motion.  The boxer is punching (something unstated).  Passion is known through something outside the subject, viz. through the mover which originates the motion, telling us what the subject endures.  In the category of passion, usually, the predicate is in the passive voice.  The ball is being hit by the bat. (or “The ball is hit by the bat.”)  Rarely, the predicate is in the active voice, though its meaning is still passive.  The astronomer is seeing the planet.  The criminal is suffering a whipping.  Sometimes, the agent causing the motion is unstated. In this case, our mind must supply to the predicate some generic agent in our understanding.  The patient is being healed (by someone unstated).

12.  Posture (also called “situation”) is known through something extrinsic, viz. through the surrounding environment in relation to the parts of the subject, telling us how the parts of the subject are situated:  Sometimes, posture explicitly states the parts and the environment.  The criminal is hanging in a noose by his neck  Usually, the arrangement of the parts of the subject are implied.  The diner is sitting (feet on the floor, with his buttocks) in the chair.  Often, the environment is also implied.  The acrobat is inverted (with his head down and his feet up in the air.)  Outfitting is known through something extrinsic, viz. through some article fitted to the subject, telling us how the subject is attired:  Usually, the article is a piece of clothing  The chef is wearing an apron.  Sometimes, the article is named in the predicate.  The tank is fitted with armor.  Sometimes, the article or articles are implied by the words used.  The tank is armored for battle (by some kind of unstated armor).  The baby is dressed (in some kind of unstated clothes).  The runner is shod (with some kind of unstated footwear.)

13.  When is understood through something outside the subject, namely, through some time measurement or time keeper.  Usually, when is predicated along with some action or passion.  The boxer knocked out his opponent in the third round.  The soldier succumbed to his injuries at three o’clock.  Sometimes, when is predicated along with another category.  The water was cold this morning.  When can even be directly predicated of the subject.  The batter is in the seventh inning.  The funeral is today.  Where is understood through something outside the subject, namely, through the surrounding environment in relation to the whole subject:  In the category of where, usually, the preposition “in” is used.  The fish is in the sea.  Other prepositions can also be used to signify “where”.  The astronaut is on the moon.  The diver is under water.  Sometimes, no preposition is needed.  The student is home.  Many languages have a special case for where predicates, the locative case.  Latin has a locative case for a few nouns, such as cities, and small islands. domi sum.