kategorische

Kategorische is the inflected form of the German adjective kategorisch, used before nouns to denote category, universality, or an unconditional character. The term appears across philosophy, logic, and linguistics, where it signals a sense of absoluteness of a statement, judgment, or attribute rather than a contingent one.

In philosophy, kategorisch describes statements, judgments, or imperatives that are unconditional and not dependent on empirical conditions. The best-known usage is Kant’s kategorischer Imperativ, the central moral law he proposed: act only according to maxims that could be willed as universal laws. In this sense, kategorisch conveys necessity and universality in moral reasoning.

In logic, the phrase kategorische Sätze (categorical propositions) denotes a traditional Aristotelian concept. Such statements relate two classes, S and P, and come in four forms: A (All S are P), E (No S are P), I (Some S are P), and O (Some S are not P). The designation underscores clear, unambiguous assertions without conditionals or relational predicates.

In grammar and linguistics, kategorisch describes a property of adjectives. The form kategorische occurs as an inflected variant before feminine or plural nouns in certain cases, as in categorische Aussagen (categorical statements) or kategorische Merkmale (categorical features). It is a general linguistic and philosophical term rather than a proper noun.

Etymology traces kategorisch to Greek categorikos via Latin categoricus, entering German through scientific and philosophical discourse. Related topics include Kant, the categorical imperative, Aristotelian logic, and the concept of categorical propositions.