Universa Philosophia

Some propositions are absolute, some depend on something else, e.g. Petrus est homo is an absolute proposition, because its truth or falsity does not depend on anything else, but only on the absolute identity or distinction of subject and predicate: wherefore a proposition of this kind is called categorical. But I have shown in disputation 1, section 9, that a category is a predication, likewise that a categorematic term is perfectly significative by itself and absolutely; whence I infer against some Summulists that a categorical proposition is not interchangeable with a simple utterance, for a complex proposition can be categorical, as Petrus currit, et Ioannes legit is an absolute proposition and perfectly significative by itself. But let an example of a proposition depending on something else be: si Petrus venerit, loquetur; the subject is joined with the predicate not absolutely, but with dependence on Peter's arrival: nor can it be said absolutely that Petrum locuturum aut non, nor that the proposition is absolutely true or false, unless Peter's arrival is awaited, on which both the speech and the truth of the proposition depend.