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( 21 ) of the reality cannot be understood unless it is studied in various aspects. Every object can be spoken of both in the affirmative and the nagative. How can we make two contradictory statements both true of an object ? The answer is the nature of the object is such. As a thing has several assertions and relations several predications are necessary. Is this idol made of marble or white clay ? If it is the one, it is not the other. Was Alexander a Greek or a Roman? He was a Greek and not a Raman. These statements exhibit the possibility of predicating affirmation and negation of the same thing. Is and is not can significantly refer to the same object. But the point of view is different in each case. When a subject has two predicales, no one predicate alone can monopolise the subject to itself. The aspect left out by this predicate can very well be expressed by the other predicate; No predicate can be absolutely true excluding other predications about a particular subject; hence the necessity for qualified assertions about any object. These qualified or conditional assertions are primarily two, affirmation and negation.
1. In some respects X is. 2. In some respects X is not.
As these two aspects are found inherent in the same thing, we can say
