The Criterion of Being Substance and Accident of Categories

The controversial division of the existent into substance and accident is the primary divisions on the contingent being. Although philosophers like Aristotle, Ibn Sina, Mulla Sadra, Descartes, Kant and… altogether defined the substance and the accidents into “existent without subject matter” and “existent in need of subject” respectively, there are disagreement about their types and numbers. However, some sensationalist and empiricist philosophers have denied the existence of substance altogether. Philosophers say that the diagnostic criteria for substance and accident are in the understanding of the essentials and the accidentals and their differential diagnosis come back in to the realm of epistemology and attitudes toward existence and that what is the origin of the knowledge. Expressing opinions and views about the categories, this paper has dealt with the criterion of the being substance and accident of categories.