Inherence refers to
Empedocles' idea that the
qualities of
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...
come from the relative
proportions of each of the
four elements
Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...
entering into a thing. The idea was further developed by
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
.
Overview
That Plato accepted (or at least did not reject) Empedocles' claim can be seen in the ''
Timaeus Timaeus (or Timaios) is a Greek name. It may refer to:
* ''Timaeus'' (dialogue), a Socratic dialogue by Plato
*Timaeus of Locri, 5th-century BC Pythagorean philosopher, appearing in Plato's dialogue
*Timaeus (historian) (c. 345 BC-c. 250 BC), Greek ...
''. However, Plato also applied it to cover the presence of
form in matter. The form is an active principle. Matter, on the other hand is passive, being a mere
possibility that the forms bring to life.
Aristotle clearly accepted Empedocles' claim, but he rejected Plato's idea of the forms. According to Aristotle, the
accidents
An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...
of a
substance are
incorporeal beings which are present in it.
["By being 'present in a subject' I do not mean present as parts are present in a whole, but being incapable of existence apart from the said subject." (Aristotle, '']Categories
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
*Category (Kant)
* Categories (Peirce)
* ...
'' 1a24–26).
A closely related term is
participation
Participation or Participant may refer to:
Politics
*Participation (decision making), mechanisms for people to participate in social decisions
*Civic participation, engagement by the citizens in government
*e-participation, citizen participation ...
. If an attribute ''inheres'' in a subject, then the subject is said to ''participate'' in the attribute. For example, if the attribute ''in Athens'' inheres in Socrates, then Socrates is said to participate in the attribute, ''in Athens.''
See also
*
Substance theory
References
Concepts in metaphysics
Ontology
Natural philosophy
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