The Ontological Priority of Particular Substances
It is argued that Aristotelian particular substances are ontologically prior to derivative entities such as non‐substance attributes and accidental compounds. Their ontological priority is specified as a qualified form of [PIB] grounded on the notion of ultimate subjecthood. As ultimate subjects that other things are said of or are present in, particular substances make non‐substance attributes the types of predicable entity that they are but not conversely. This sort of asymmetry, however, is importantly different from their alleged capacity for existing independently of non‐substance attributes (but not conversely). The primacy of particular substance consists in an attenuated notion of [PIB] in which it makes non‐substance entities the generic types of being that they are, i.e. predicable attributes. This predicational version of [PIB] could offer an attractive, unified picture of Aristotelian ontological priority.
Keywords: particular substance, non‐substance attributes, accidental compounds, subject, ultimate subjecthood, predicables, predication
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .