Perhaps we need to back up a moment and define terms. What does the expression "substance change" mean to you?
Perhaps we need to back up a moment and define terms. What does the expression "substance change" mean to you?
That might slow us down, but OK. ;-)
When we talk of substance and accidents we mean this (as far as I understand.) The "substance" or "essence" of a thing is, as I have said, the answer to the question "what is it?"
It is a type of category or abstract. But it is also its identity. There is somewhere in our minds a prototype that we think of when we hear a word. If I say "dog" there is an abstract that we all recognize, though we may have a hard time describing it. You may think of a particular dog, a Great Dane. I may think of a miniature poodle. These are "accidents," or actual existing specimens or examples of the "substance" of "dog."
When we see a four legged beast of a certain type, we recognize it as a "dog." It is a concrete example of the substance of "dog." It IS a dog. It's essence is "dog."
Now then, imagine that, for some reason a particular dog, perhaps one you know, is suddenly and miraculously changed into a cat. Except he doesn't look or smell any different. It is only by faith that we know that this one particular dog is now really, in substance, a cat. Even though the accidents of "dog" remain it has been elevated to the substance of "cat." It's essence is cat. It IS a cat.
SD