Note 102 — Chapter XII · DE ANIMÂ, ETC.

Ibid. p. 423, b. 12-17: διαφέρει τὸ ἁπτὸν τῶν ὁρατῶν καὶ τῶν ψοφητικῶν ὅτι ἐκείνων μὲν αἰσθανόμεθα τῷ τὸ μεταξὺ ποιεῖν τι ἡμᾶς, τῶν δὲ ἁπτῶν οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ μεταξὺ ἀλλ’ ἅμα τῷ μεταξύ, ὥσπερ ὁ δι’ ἀσπίδος πληγείς· οὐ γὰρ ἡ ἀσπὶς πληγεῖσα ἐπάταξεν, ἀλλ’ ἅμ’ ἄμφω συνέβη πληγῆναι.

This analogy of the warrior pierced at the same time with his shield illustrates Aristotle’s view of the eighth Category — Habere: of which he gives ὥπλισται as the example. He considers a man’s clothes and defensive weapons as standing in a peculiar relation to him like a personal appurtenance and almost as a part of himself. It is under this point of view that he erects Habere into a distinct Category.