58 On Passion
Contrariety belongs to this category, for 'to make cold' and 'to heat' are contraries. They designate contrary qualities and cannot be applied to the same thing at the same time, at least not with respect to the same thing.
This category also admits more and less; that is, one can add the adverbs 'more' and 'less' to verbs in this category, although not to all of them.
Thus, one can correctly say, "This heats more than that", "This heats less than that", and "One man rejoices more and another less". (All these remarks conform to the view which seems to me to follow from Aristotle's teachings.) Others say that action is a thing distinct not only from the agent, the thing effected, and the thing produced, but also from all other absolute things. It is a respect which some say exists subjectively in the agent and others claim exists subjectively in the thing effected. Nevertheless, they say that sometimes action is a real respect of the agent vis-a-vis the thing effected and that sometimes it is a respect of the reason. Thus, when God acts there is only a respect of the reason. They say that the aforementioned properties (to have a contrary and to admit more and less) belong to the entity in question.
58: On Passion The sixth category is the category of suffering (passion). Aristotle always refers to this category by the verb form. This is clear in the final chapter of the Categories and in the chapter on 'To Do and to Suffer'.! Damascene seems to agree with Aristotle here, for in his Logic he also refers to this category by the verb.? In Aristotle's view the preceeding category consists of verbs; the same is the case here. This category contains all such verbs as signify that something has been acted upon. Thus, all the remarks made with respect to that category apply here. For Aristotle, then, to suffer and suffering are simply the substance which suffers. Damascene makes this point when he says, "To do and to suffer are simply substance qua acting and suffering in a certain way."> Alternatively, one can always analyze a proposition which contains the name 'suffering' or the infinitive form of the verb functioning hyp> pag.