Глава XIII. Об акциденции

Accident is something that occurs in objects and is absent without destroying the object. And again: an accident is something that can either belong to the same object or not. So, a person can be white, and also tall, smart, with a flat nose. [Being present, none of these signs preserves the species - for it is not accepted in the definition of the species - and, being absent, does not destroy it. Thus, although an Ethiopian is not white, this does not prevent a person from existing. Thus, whether this sign is present or absent, it does not cause damage to the underlying substance, for we said that substance is the subject of accidents, a certain matter of them]. There are two types of accident: difference in the general sense and difference in the proper sense. The difference in the general sense will be a separable accident, for example, one is sitting and the other is standing. In fact, the differences between the one sitting and the one standing allow for separation, and one can take the place of the other, which will happen if the one sitting stands up and the one standing sits down. Likewise, when we speak of difference from ourselves, we mean a separable accident, for we differ from ourselves in that we sit or stand, are young or old, are sick or are in good health. As for the difference in the proper sense, such a difference will be an inseparable accident, for example: a flat nose. A flat nose can no longer be taken away from a person, as well as bluish eyes and the like. Such inseparable accidents distinguish an individual from an individual, i.e. one hypostasis from another hypostasis. But we never differ from ourselves by these accidents. For the purpose of definition, inseparable accidents are not important, for a person may or may not have a flat nose. And if a person’s eyes are not blue, he nevertheless remains a person. You might be interested in: