9. Managing the Quality Systems

The term ‘quality’ has accompanied humankind since the beginning of evolution. Initially, it was a philosophical term, connected to the understanding of the matter surrounding humans. The term ‘quality’ first emerged in Aristotle’s writing as a metaphysical category counterposed to ‘quantity.’ In his consideration on the essence of beings, Aristotle distinguished two components: the form (that is the general properties of things) and matter (the individual properties of a given thing). In the Aristotelean philosophy, ‘quality’ is the term that describes the definiteness of the corporeal substance and is evidenced by a specific assignment of a matter to form. In the philosophy of Rene Descartes, a dualistic understanding of qualities can be found: primary qualities, those that are already in the object; and secondary qualities, those emitted by the object.