Proofs of the Exclusivity of Essential Accident to Predicates Equal to the Subject according to ‘Allāmah Ṭabātabā’ī

The examination of essential accident plays a crucial role in the discussion on the subject of science, and the distinction between sciences as well as in the technique of proof (burhān). According to ‘Allāmah Ṭabātabā’ī, essential accident is exclusive to predicates equal to the subject. This means that intermediary predicates and those predicates that are more general or more specific than the subject are not essential accidents. To substantiate his viewpoint, it was argued that the certainty of a proposition requires the essentiality of its predicate, and the essentiality of the proposition’s predicate necessitates its certainty. Since predication of the intermediary predicates is not certain, such a predicate is not essential accident. It was also demonstrated that essential accident is postulated through "the postulation of the subject (al-mawḍu’)" and is otherwise not certain. Moreover, it is negated through the "removal of subject", or else leads to contradiction. It was subsequently established that the concomitant of these two features is the equality of essential accident with the subject. Finally, responses were provided to two objections. The first dealt with the predicates that were mediators of subsistence. This objection was countered by distinguishing between the judgment of unity and the actual realization of the predicate. The second addressed the claim that if the predicate is more general than the subject, the proposition can be certain. It was countered with the response that this assumption leads to the cancellation of the condition inferred in the subject, and is a contradiction. Asserting certainty in this proposition stems from being imprecise.