Aristotelian Categories

Hi Steph,
  So I've been researching diligently on my thesis recently, and a certain scholar I keep running into likes to use the term Aristotelian a lot. Now, I know who is Aristotle is, but I didn't know what he meant by it. I looked into it and learned about Aristotelian categories.

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Aristotelian Categories: simplistically defined, the idea that all things can be divided into set categories

I'll be the first to admit I do not have a firm grasp of this concept, but the scholar used it to explain that he believes we cannot simply assume a word fits absolutely as either a noun or a verb, that maybe there was gradient space where words exist between two word categories. I've been thinking a little bit about categories in a more broad sense lately. Like there are some commandments and morals which are easy to categorize. Killing is bad. Lying is a sin. Stealing is against the law. It is obvious to me that there is an absolute right and wrong here, barring the case of Jean Valjean, but let's just keep this simple.

But there's a lot of other things that I can't put in those tidy categories. Like, if I'm seeking to interact perfectly as Christ did with others, what is the perfect way of speaking, communicating, and interacting? What are the right questions to ask when getting to know someone? How do you put people at ease? These questions are really leading to one big one: Is there a right and wrong way to speak as Christ spoke?

From what I gather, Aristotelian categories don't work very well here. With billions of people living and multiple billions already dead or yet to be living, there is an infinite number of human beings with diverse and idiosyncratic perceptions and means of communicating. I believe it is far too simplistic that there is one perfect way to communicate and put all these people at ease. While this is relieving to me in some ways, it also leaves me wanting answers. Where do you aim to better your communication skills?

And that's just a sliver of all the areas that we can improve in that don't fit in Aristotelian categories. What's the perfect way to serve someone? How do you comfort someone perfectly? How do you balance the many demands of life perfectly? Etc.

There's so much grey, and sometimes that grey is unsettling to me. It is paralyzing in a way. I wish that there was black and white, and the model for how to behave was clear, but it isn't. I guess I have more questions than answers today. What do you think? How do you find a model for action?

Cheers,

Amanda Kae

I want your input too. How do you not be overwhelmed by all the possible correct paths? Where do you find answers for the grey areas of life?