Categories or Classes of Being, into which the subjects of a proposition may be divided,

are:  Substance, Quantity, Quality, Relation, Space, Time, Situation, Having, or

Manner of, Being, Action, Passion.

These divisions have been modified from time to time.

Kant arranged them as

Another very common subdivision of names or "predicables" is fivefold: Differentia,

Property, Accident, Genus and Species.  We do not propose to go minutely into the

details of these divisions; they will be more carefully examined later. We are only

concerned here with the classification of names, because of their connection with the

construction of propositions, which is the subject of our next study.

Having seen that correct names are at the very root of all right thinking, we now

proceed to consider the question of propositions.  A proposition is "a sentence

indicative"--something asserted, affirmed or denied. It will be seen that it differs from a

question or a command, and that all that is necessary for its formation is a predicate and

a subject.

The relation between the predicate and subject is indicated in several ways. It is

sometimes indicated by inflection, as when we say, "Fire burns", but more generally, by

the words "is" or "is not"--a use of the verb "to be" which must not be confused with

that conveying the idea of "existence":--

For example, "God is Spirit" is an affirmative proposition; while "God is not man" is

a negative one.

Propositions, considered merely as sentences, are divided into two classes--

categorical and hypothetical. The categorical class simply asserts that the predicate does,

or does not, apply to the subject, e.g.:--