katêgorikos

Katêgorikos is an ancient Greek term used in philosophy, particularly in the works of Aristotle. It is often translated as "predicative" or "attributive" and relates to the way in which a predicate is affirmed of a subject in a proposition. In Aristotelian logic, a katêgorikos statement is one where the predicate is something that is said of or belongs to the subject. This contrasts with other types of propositions where the predicate might be seen as a property or accident rather than an essential part of the subject's definition.

Aristotle's categories, which describe the fundamental ways in which things can be predicated of a subject, are central to understanding katêgorikos. For example, in the proposition "Socrates is a man," "man" is a katêgorikos predicate because it is something that is said of Socrates and defines his essence. The term is crucial for distinguishing between different logical relationships between terms in a sentence and forms a basis for analyzing the structure of valid arguments. Understanding the distinction between katêgorikos and other forms of predication is key to grasping the nuances of Aristotelian metaphysics and logic.