accident specifically. Although an existent is found in external reality only as a distinct entity, this is a division of a universal into its particulars; such is its nature. This differs from a whole existing in external reality—for example, a human being—when divided into its constituent parts, such as the head, the hand, and the like.

As for his statement in the fourth question, “Why do you say that it must be explained either by existence or by origination? What evidence establishes that these are the only alternatives?”—three things may be said here. First, it may be said that thorough investigation, exhaustive examination, and induction