The Five Predicables are a set of categories that were traditionally used in logic and philosophy to classify the different ways in which a predicate (a word or phrase that describes a property or characteristic of a subject) can be related to a subject. The Five Predicables are:
- Substance: This category refers to the essential nature or essence of a thing. It is the “whatness” of a thing, and it is the subject of which other qualities or attributes are predicated.
- Quantity: This category refers to the amount or extent of a thing, such as its size or duration.
- Quality: This category refers to the inherent properties or characteristics of a thing, such as its color, shape, or texture.
- Relation: This category refers to the way in which a thing is related to other things or to itself.
- Place: This category refers to the location or position of a thing in space.
These categories were traditionally used in logic and philosophy to classify the different types of predicates and to help understand the relationships between subjects and predicates. They are not commonly used in modern classification systems, but the concept of categorizing things based on shared characteristics or attributes is still an important principle in many fields, including biology, library science, and information science.