category

category, philosophical term that literally means predication or assertion. It was first used by Aristotle, whose 10 categories formed a list of all the ways in which assertions can be made of a subject. Immanuel Kant's 12 categories constitute an exhaustive list of the a priori forms through which a person knows the phenomenal world. The term has also been used in many other senses by various philosophers.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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