ABSTRACT
Aristotle is the first thinker to carve out a logical and ontological space for relatives. His treatment of the category of relatives is offered in Categories 7, which is a key text for all subsequent ancient and medieval discussions on the topic of relatives. Two definitions of relatives are put forth in this chapter. By giving us two definitions Aristotle does not mean to claim that there are two kinds of relatives. His view is rather that the second definition is more adequate than the first at characterizing the nature of relatives. In his view, relatives are relational properties such as being double or being a slave. These properties are relational because they imply the existence of a relation that alone or in conjunction with other proprieties is constitutive of the relatives.
