90. The Fallacy of the Accident and Per Se Distinctions

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Fallacy of the Accident #

• A logical fallacy that deceives even the wise, according to Aristotle
• Consists in treating what is accidental (per accidens) to a thing as if it were essential (per se) to its nature
• Example: Assuming swamp air causes malaria, when the mosquitoes in the swamp air are the actual cause
• The fallacy works because the accidental property is always present in experience, making it seem essential

Per Se vs. Per Accidens Distinctions #

• Per se: Essential to a nature; follows necessarily from the essence; cannot be separated without destroying the thing
• Per accidens: Accidental to a nature; can be present or absent without affecting the essence
• Example (geometry): A rectilineal plane figure is defined by being contained by straight lines. Red, white, and blue colors are accidental to this definition
• Example (Socrates): “Socrates is a man” is true. “Man is universal” is true. But “Therefore Socrates is universal” commits the fallacy of accident because universality is accidental to man as predicated of Socrates, not essential

How the Accidental Deceives Us #

• The deception occurs when the accidental is always present in our experience
• Since we never encounter the thing without the accidental property, we mistake the accidental for the essential
• Example: “The sick become healthy; therefore the sick and healthy are the same thing.” But it is not the sickness that becomes healthy—it is the body that has sickness that becomes healthy. Sickness itself cannot become healthy.
• Similarly: “The young become old; therefore the young are old.” But the young are not old; rather, that which is young (the body/subject) becomes old. The subject remains constant while accidents change.

Applications to Powers and Objects #

• Not all diversity of objects diversifies powers; only per se differences do so
• Example: Color distinguishes sight from hearing (per se), but red/white/blue do not diversify the species of triangle (per accidens)
• The object of a power must be considered according to its formal aspect (ratio), not according to accidental properties

Key Arguments #

The Syllogism of Accident (Socrates Example) #

• Premise 1: Socrates is a man (TRUE)
• Premise 2: Man is something universal (TRUE)
• Conclusion: Therefore, Socrates is universal (FALSE—fallacy of accident)
• The Problem: The middle term (man) is used equivocally. Man is said of Socrates because man signifies an animal with reason, and Socrates is an animal with reason. The universality that animal-with-reason has in the mind is accidental to man insofar as it is said of Socrates, not the reason why it is predicated of him.

The Subject Remains Constant #

• When accidents change, the subject (that which remains) does not change its nature
• Example: The body becomes healthy; the sickness does not become healthy
• Example: The person becomes good; the badness does not become good
• This explains why “the spirit loves the sinner but not the sin”—a person can change from vicious to virtuous, but vice itself does not become virtue

The Malaria Example #

• Mistaken premise: Swamp air is unhealthy and corrupts the body
• Actual cause: Mosquitoes in the swamp air (or something the mosquitoes carry) cause malaria
• Why the confusion: Everyone who had malaria was in swamp air, making swamp air seem like the cause
• The solution: If you sleep in swamp air but use netting to separate from mosquitoes, the accidental (swamp air) is distinguished from the per se cause (mosquitoes)

Important Definitions #

Per se (by itself/essentially) #

• That which follows necessarily from a thing’s essence or definition
• Cannot be separated from the thing without destroying it
• Constitutes the species or essential nature

Per accidens (by accident/accidentally) #

• That which can be present or absent without affecting the essence
• Not part of the definition; not essential to what a thing is
• May always be present empirically but remains ontologically accidental

Ratio (formal aspect/definition) #

• The formal aspect under which something is understood or considered
• The same subject can have different rationes for different purposes
• Example: Food has the ratio of sensible for sensation and the ratio of desirable for appetite

Examples & Illustrations #

Geometry: The Triangle #

• Definition: A rectilineal plane figure (contained by straight lines)
• Can be contained by three lines (triangle), four (quadrilateral), five (pentagon), etc.
• Accidental: Whether it is colored red, white, or blue—these colors do not divide the species of plane figure

Sickness and Health #

• “The sick become healthy; therefore the sick are healthy.” FALSE
• The body becomes healthy; the sickness does not become healthy
• Sickness is an accident of the body; when the accident changes, sickness ceases to exist
• This is why we can love the person who was once sick (and is now healthy) but not the sickness itself

Language and Drama #

• A drama in English vs. a drama in French: Are these different species of drama? NO
• Language is accidental to what a play is
• Per se differences in drama: tragedy vs. comedy (based on whether it represents something serious or laughable)
• The same principles of dramatic structure apply whether written in French or English

University Departments and Language Instruction #

• A French teacher may teach grammar, literature, history, or even philosophy—all under the rubric “French”
• But what unites these is only accidental (that they are taught in the French language)
• Grammar and literature belong to different sciences: universal grammar vs. poetic science
• The unifying principle is practical convenience (you must know French to teach French literature), not a true unity of subject matter

The Anti-Malaria Kit #

• Seen at London airport: pills to prevent malaria and a mosquito absorber
• Shows modern understanding that mosquitoes (not swamp air) cause malaria
• Ancient error: Thought malaria came from corrupted, unhealthy air (“miasma”)
• Dutch 18th-century example: Thought sickness from canals came from the stench; actually from contact/contamination

The Thinking Cap #

• Medieval professors wore gowns while lecturing at universities
• Common people thought: “If I wear that hat/gown, I can lecture.”
• But the gown is accidental to teaching ability
• The formal cause of good teaching is knowledge and reasoning ability, not clothing

Questions Addressed #

Q: How do we distinguish what is essential from what is accidental to a nature? #

A: By examining the definition. That which follows from the essence or is necessary to define the thing is per se; that which can be absent without affecting the definition is per accidens. Even when the accidental is always present in experience, it remains accidental.

Q: Why does the fallacy of the accident deceive even the wise? #

A: Because the accidental property is always present in our experience with the thing. We never encounter the thing without the accidental accompaniment, making it seem essential, even though it is not the reason why the thing has its essential properties.

Q: How does this fallacy relate to the distinction of powers? #

A: Powers are distinguished by their per se objects, not their accidental properties. Color per se distinguishes sight from hearing, but red/white/blue per accidens do not diversify species. The formal aspect (ratio) under which an object relates to a power must be essential to that power’s operation.

Notable Quotes #

“That’d be the same thing as the exception, accident exception? No, no, it’s not accidental in that sense, huh? It’s something that, um, uh, it’s the opposite here of as such, right?”

“But the universality that animal with reason has in the mind, that’s accidental, right, to man insofar as it’s said of Socrates, huh?”

“But is it the sick as such that become healthy? Or is it the body that has sickness that as such becomes healthy? Does the sickness itself become healthy? No. No. No, see?”

“They love the sinner, but not the sin, right?”

“So he’s kind of accidental to your teaching, huh?” (referring to the thinking cap)

“Nature loves to hide.” (Heraclitus, cited regarding how essential differences are hidden, requiring accidental differences to be used in definitions)