  In many ways, Philoponus’ commentary on the Categories may be regarded as typical of its kind. The exegesis of Aristotle’s text is prefaced by a general clarification of matters of interest for the student who reads philosophy for the first time. (Similar preliminaries can also be found as prefaces to commentaries on Porphyry’s Introduction.) Aristotle’s logical works were arranged in an order of increasing complexity, beginning with the Categories, which deals with simple, uncombined utterances. This was followed by De interpretatione (on propositions), Prior Analytics (on syllogism) and Posterior Analytics (on proof). Discussing the problem of the subject matter (skopós) of the Categories, Philoponus says – roughly in agreement with Iamblichus – that the Categories are about simple utterances (phônaí) signifying simple things (prágmata) by means of simple concepts (noêmata; In Cat. 10).