Suppositum

“ And since all acts thus received are accidental, hence all the positive modes intrinsic to the being must be accidental modes; and no substantial mode can be positive. Therefore whatever is positive in the suppositum and in the substance belongs to the nature of the being [pg 010] which has the mode of suppositum or of substance, whilst the modes themselves are mere negations.
This truth, however, should not be misunderstood. When we say that “to be in itself” or “to be by itself” is a mere negation, we do not refer to the verb “to be” ”

“ This definition exhibits the “predicamental” substance—that is, a substance ultimately complete, which is at the same time a suppositum also, according to Aristotle's comprehensive conception of substance. And it is for this reason that such a definition is made up of two members; of which the first—viz., “that which exists in itself”—strictly applies to substance as such; whilst the second—viz., “that which subsists by itself”—strictly refers to the suppositum as such, and exhibits substance as possessing its own natural subsistence or suppositality. ”

“ Reply Obj. 3: As a person signifies something complete and self-subsisting in rational nature, so a hypostasis, suppositum, and being of nature in the genus of substance, signify something that subsists of itself. ”

“ These explanations will be of some assistance, we hope, to the philosophical student in forming a correct judgment as to the formal constituents of substance and suppositum, and as to the manner of speaking about them with proper discrimination. We wish we had handled the subject in a better style and a less monotonous phraseology; but it was our duty to aim at preciseness rather than ornament. If there is any part of philosophy in which precision is more necessary than in another, it is that which treats of the principles of things ”

“ This doctrine, which is so simple and clear, and which fully explains the true meaning of those phrases, “it exists in itself,” and “it subsists by itself,” can be confirmed by what S. Thomas teaches on the subject. And since we have already said enough in regard to the mode of substance, we shall give only what he says concerning subsistence or suppositality. That the words per se—“by itself”—which strictly exhibit the formality of the suppositum, are the expression of a mere negation, is admitted by S. Thomas in a passage above mentioned. ”

“ Hence it is that the first negation is called the mode of substance, and the second the mode of the suppositum.
6. To be, to be true, to be one, to be good, to be a thing or a being, are convertible expressions so far as their real objective meaning is concerned, and are distinct only on account of their different connotations. A thing is called a being, inasmuch as it has existence. It is called true, inasmuch as its act suits its term, and vice versa. For the objective truth of things—i.e., their metaphysical truth—is nothing but their intelligibility ”

“ Uses of the Substantive Clause.—As a sentence-element it has most of the important uses of the noun.
1. Subject of a verb,—“What is true of individual men is true also of races.”—Lowell. Frequently, for the sake of a more pleasing arrangement, the anticipative subject it is used, and the real subject, a noun clause, is placed after the predicate,—“It matters little what virtues a man has, if he is habitually inexact.” ”

“ But no Substantive is supplied. So we express the Subject as “not-brave * * *.”
(2) The Verb is “deserve,” for which we substitute the phrase “are deserving of”.
(3) The Predicate is “* * * deserving of the fair.”
(4) Let Univ. be “persons.”
(5) The Sign of Quantity is “no.”
(6) The Proposition now becomes
“No | not-brave persons | are | persons deserving of the fair.”
(4)
“A lame puppy would not say “thank you” if you offered to lend it a skipping-rope.”
(1) The Subject is evidently “lame puppies,” and all the rest of the sentence must somehow be packed into the Predicate. ”

“ Compound.
A phrase is a combination of words without a predicate and can illustrate, but cannot express an idea, as, Spring returning, the swallow comes.
A clause is a phrase developed, and contains a predicate, as, When spring returns, we may expect the swallow.
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE.
It has now been seen that the simplest sentence we can frame must necessarily consist of at least two words—the subject, which must be a noun or its equivalent; and the predicate, which must be a verb. But a sentence consisting of only two words is in its barest and most rudimentary form. ”

“ But when we say that definition is unfolding the intension of terms, it must not be imagined that we are bound in defining to unfold completely the intension of terms. This would be a tedious, and often an endless, task. A term may mean, or convey to the mind, a good many more attributes than those which are stated in its definition. There is no limit indeed to the meaning which a term may legitimately convey, except the common attributes of the things denoted by it. ”

“ We occasionally come across sentences constructed like the following,—“What a man does, that he has.”—Emerson. The meaning is,—“A man has what he does,” the noun clause what he does being object of the verb has. But in the original sentence the pronominal that is object of has, and this indefinite object is explained by the noun clause what a man does, which is therefore to be called an appositive. Such an arrangement arises from a desire to make the clause prominent and also to hold the main thought in suspense until the end of the sentence. ”

“ When the subject is not the same, the clause is condensed into what has been termed an absolute phrase; as, “Nature, [Pg 134] her patience with him being ended, leaves him desolate.”—Carlyle.
The absolute phrase consists essentially of a substantive and a participle, having to each other the logical relation of subject and predicate. In the sentence quoted the phrase is equivalent to the adverbial clause of cause, because her patience with him is ended. ”

“ Observe that in each case the subject of the sentence ends in -a and the object in -am. The form of the noun shows how it is used in the sentence, and the order of the words has no effect on the essential meaning.
2. As stated above (§ 23) , this change of ending is called declension, and each different ending produces what is called a case. When we decline a noun, we give all its different cases, or changes of endings. In English we have three cases,—nominative, possessive, and objective ”

“ Of the terms in apposition, one is the subject, and the other the predicate, of to be, understood (“They made him to be their ruler”) . The rule might, therefore, be worded thus: When, of two terms in apposition, one is predicated of the other, no comma is required.
25. In a compound sentence, the comma is often inserted where a verb is omitted.
In literature, our taste will be discovered by that which we give; our judgment, by that which we withhold.
Wit consists in finding out resemblances; judgment, in discerning differences. {p110}
In the pursuit of intellectual pleasure lies every virtue ”

“ Prothesis, the noun-verb, or verb-substantive, I am, which is the previous form, and implies identity of being and act.
2. Thesis, the noun.
3. Antithesis, the verb.
Note, each of these may be converted; that is, they are only opposed to each other.
4. Mesothesis, the infinitive mood, or the indifference of the verb and noun, it being either the one or the other, or both at the same time, in different relations.
5. Synthesis, the participle, or the community of verb and noun; being and acting at once. ”

“ A Noun Substantive denotes a substance, as a spirit, an animal, a vegetable, or any other thing that may be conceived to subsist, as agreeableness, agility, acceleration; which, tho’ their qualities, agreeable, agile, accelerate, are indefinite or indeterminate, yet by the signs, ness, ty, ion, signifying substances, properties, and the sun’s motion, acquire such a determinate meaning as to become substantives, and to shew their meaning without being joined with any other word. ”

“ Substantives enable us to name or designate persons, places, or things, and verbs enable us to make statements about them. Both substantives and verbs, then, are absolutely necessary in framing sentences. Without a substantive, there can be no subject; without a verb, there can be no predicate: and both a subject and a predicate, as we have seen, are needed to make a sentence. ”

“ A compound subject or predicate consists of two or more simple subjects or predicates, joined, when necessary, by conjunctions.
Either the subject or the predicate, or both, may be compound.
The Parts of Speech
9. In accordance with their use in the sentence, words are divided into eight classes called parts of speech,—namely, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
(1) A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing.
(2) A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. It designates a person, place, or thing without naming it. ”

“ But in this sentence both the noun and the verb retain the objective inflections, as in the former instances. These inflections are not uniformly un, but sometimes een, as in ogeen, his mother, and sometimes ôn, as in odakeek-ôn, his kettle, in all which instances, however, the number is left indeterminate. It may hence be observed, and it is a remark which we shall presently have occasion to corroborate, that the plural inflection to inanimate nouns, (which have no objective form,) forms the objective inflection to animate nouns, which have no number in the third person. ”

“ A proposition is called verbal or analytic when the predicate is a part, or the whole, of the meaning of the subject; and the subject being species, a genus or difference is part, and a definition is the whole, of its meaning or connotation. Hence such a proposition has also been called explicative. Again, a proposition is called real or synthetic when the predicate is no part of the meaning of the subject; and, the subject being species, a proprium or accident is no part of its meaning or connotation. ”

“ The car looks cheap.
He is in the house.
Home is where the heart is.
In these sentences, red, a house, cheap, in the house, and where the heart is, are parts of the predicate, though they characterize the subject. Such elements are called complements because they complete the assertion of the verb; if adjectives, they are called adjective [47] complements, or better, predicated adjectives; if nouns, they are called noun complements, or predicated nouns; if clauses or phrases, they are called complements, or predicated phrases or clauses. ”

“ Now when we say 'John is a man' or 'This table is oblong,' the proposition is quite as universal, in the sense of the predicate applying to the whole of the subject, as when we say 'All men are mortal.' For since a singular term applies only to one thing, we cannot avoid using it in its whole extent, if we use it at all. ”

“ A supposition which is assumed to be true, or which is made without any hint as to its correctness, is expressed by the indicative. A supposition which is viewed by the speaker as untrue or unlikely is expressed by the subjunctive or a periphrase [87] for the subjunctive. When the character of the supposition makes the conclusion untrue or unlikely, the conclusion also is expressed by the subjunctive or a periphrase [87] for the subjunctive. The use of tenses is peculiar, as will be seen from the following table of a few common forms of conditional sentences. ”

“ The object of a verb or preposition is in the objective case (p. 47) .
8. A substantive that completes the meaning of a transitive verb is called its direct object, and is said to be in the objective case (p. 48) .
9. A verb of asking sometimes takes two direct objects, one denoting the person and the other the thing (p. 50) .
10. Verbs of choosing, calling, naming, making, and thinking may take two objects referring to the same person or thing.
The first of these is the direct object, and the second, which completes the sense of the predicate, is called a predicate objective (pp. 50, 111) . ”

“ Noun Clause as subject: That I am here is true.
Noun Clause as object: He said that I was mistaken.
Page 5 8. Sentences, as to their composition, are classified as follows:
Simple; a sentence consisting of a single statement; as, The man walks.
Complex; a sentence consisting of one principal clause and one or more subordinate clauses; as, The man that I saw is tall.
Compound; a sentence consisting of two or more clauses of equal importance connected by conjunctions expressed or understood; as, The man is tall and walks rapidly, and Watch the little things; they are important. ”

“ Inflexions of Verbs.—Verbs have inflexions to denote Person, Number, Tense, Mood, and Voice.
§ 55. Person.—The inflexions of Person are three, corresponding to the three Personal Pronouns; as, (1) ăm ō I-love, (2) ăm-ās thou-lovest, (3) ăm-ăt he-loves.
§ 56. Number.—The inflexions of a Verb vary according as the subject is Singular or Plural; as, Sing. hŏmō̆ am-ăt the-man loves, Plur. hŏmĭnēs ăm-ant the-men love.
§ 57. Tense.—Tenses show the time at which the action of the Verb takes place.
Latin has six Tenses: Present, Future, Future-Perfect, Perfect, Imperfect, Pluperfect. ”

“ For we must, if we are to be consistent, describe what appears to be most substantive as no more than a collection of such supposed adjectives: and thus, in the end, the concept turns out to be the only substantive or subject, and no one concept either more or less an adjective than any other. ”

“ But this word, strange as the fact may appear, is still more completely spoiled for the purpose which it seemed expressly made for, than the word Thing. Being is, by custom, exactly synonymous with substance; except that it is free from a slight taint of a second ambiguity; being implied impartially to matter and to mind, while substance, though originally and in strictness applicable to both, is apt to suggest in preference the idea of matter. Attributes are never called Beings; nor are feelings. ”