predicable
Definition
Adjective:
- Able to be affirmed or asserted: "predicable" describes something that can be stated or confirmed as true, especially in logical or philosophical contexts.
Noun (Philosophy):
- An attribute that can be affirmed of a subject: In logic and metaphysics, a "predicable" is a property, quality, or category that can be predicated (stated) about something, such as a universal or a characteristic.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- The existence of the soul is not a predicable fact in empirical science. (It cannot be affirmed through observation.)
- These moral truths are predicable of all human societies. (They can be asserted for every society.)
Noun:
- In Aristotle's logic, a "predicable" is one of the five ways a predicate can relate to a subject. (A philosophical term for a category of attributes.)
- The philosopher examined whether "goodness" is a predicable of all virtuous actions. (Whether it is an attribute that can be affirmed of them.)
Advanced Usage
- "the predicables": A specific set of five categories in classical logic (genus, species, differentia, property, accident) used to classify how predicates relate to subjects.
- The student studied the predicables to understand how to define a term properly. (The five classical categories of predication.)
Variants and Related Words
Predicate (v): to affirm or assert something about a subject.
- We can predicate intelligence of humans. (We can state that intelligence is a property of humans.)
Predication (n): the act of affirming something about a subject.
- Predication is a fundamental operation in logic. (The act of making a statement.)
Synonyms
- Affirmable: capable of being stated as true.
- Assertable: able to be claimed or declared.
Related Idioms
- "to be predicable of": a formal phrase meaning "can be stated about."
- The concept of justice is predicable of all fair actions. (Justice can be affirmed as a property of such actions.)