Taking a Step Back from Aristotle: John Locke and the Notions of Substance and Accident

Abstract

In this article, the Author analyses Locke’s treatment of the Aristotelian notions of substance and accident. The article starts from the Lockean adhesion to corpuscular theory and the consequent denial of three cornerstones of the typically scholastic approach to substance: hylomorphism, the multidimensional ontology represented by the categories, and the consideration of the concrete individual thing as the primary entity. Then, it shows how the Lockean doctrine of substance appears remarkably consistent with these presuppositions, especially Locke’s notion of substratum.