ABSTRACT
Although a long-lived and profoundly influential work, Aristotle’s Categories can prove a bit austere and bewildering when first encountered. In the first sentence of this treatise, Aristotle announces, without any orienting introduction, that some things are homonymous, and after briefly illustrating what is meant by this suggestion, he adds that other things are synonymous and still others paronymous (Cat. 1a1-11). A bit further along in the work, Aristotle claims, again abruptly and without any trace of justification, that there are ten categories of being (Cat. 1b25-2a3). One might wonder first why one should attend to the phenomena of homonymy and synonymy; and once that is grasped, one might more pressingly query what Aristotle’s ten categories are supposed to be categories of. Biologists offer taxonomies of animals and plants; chemists offer tables of elements; and librarians, we may be thankful, offer catalogues of books arranged and sorted by topic, author, and title. Aristotle says only that his categories are the categories of ‘things spoken of without combination’ (Cat. 1b20); and beyond giving a few illustrations, he does not explain what he means by combination; nor does he indicate why one should care in the least about an inventory and categorization of things not spoken of in this way.
