haecceity

plural haecceities · alternative hæcceity · alternative ecceity

1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe essence of a particular thing that gives it its unique particularity; those qualities that make an individual this specific individual and not some other.

   HÆCCEITY [with Chymiſis] the ſame ſpecifick Eſſence or active Principle, by which a Medicine operates.

   [1731, N[athan] Bailey, “HÆCCEITY”, in An Universal Etymological English Dictionary: Comprehending the Derivations of the Generality of Words in the English Tongue, Either Ancient or Modern […] , 5th edition, London: Printed for J. and J. Knapton [et al.], →OCLC

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   He [Ignatius of Loyola] ſaith not this of ſome one Church, but of all; nor yet as of an accident proper to thoſe times of the Churches minority; but as of the Notes of every Churches Individuation or Hæcceity as they ſpeak. The Unity of the Church is characteriſed by One Altar, and One Biſhop with the Presbytery and Deacons.

   1681, Richard Baxter, Church-history of the Government of Bishops and their Councils Abbreviated. Including the Chief Part of the Government of Christian Princes and Popes, and a True Account of the most Troubling Controversies and Heresies till the Reformation […] , London: Printed for Thomas Simmons at the Princes Arms in Ludgate-Street, →OCLC, page 21

   But then, precisely the same distinction is applicable to the Hæcceity itself. For it, too, has its notes of similarity with other Hæcceities, as well as its distinctive notes which add something conceptually distinct from the common Hæcceity.

   1879, Thomas [Norton] Harper, The Metaphysics of the School, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 221

   The haecceitist's claim that there exist unexemplified haecceities of disjoint objects is an extremely controversial one. Indeed, many of those who accept an ontology which includes properties vehemently deny the existence of even exemplified haecceities.

   1986, Gary Rosenkrantz, “On Objects Totally Out of this World”, in Rudolf Haller, editor, Non-existence and Predication (Grazer philosophische Studien; 25/26), Amsterdam: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 205

   What is there in the nature of individual substance which accounts for its unity and activity? As has been argued, [Gottfried Wilhelm] Leibniz did not regard haecceity as able to play this role, but frequently mentioned substantial form as a principle both of unity and activity. This makes it impossible to identify substantial form with haecceity. The strongest remaining possibility seems to be a composition of substantial form and haecceity within the nature of substance.

   1993, Studia Leibnitiana, Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, →OCLC, page 51

   Since haec is the Latin term for "this," Scotus and his disciples came to refer to this positive additive that individuates an individual's nature or distinctive qualities as that individual's unique or proper "haecceity" (haecceitas). Haecceity or "thisness" has a twofold function: (1) it makes each individual unique and incapable of duplication, even by an omnipotent God; and (2) it differentiates it radically and ultimately from each and every other individual, whether it be of the same or a specially different type.

   2005, John Duns Scotus, edited by Allan B. Wolter, Early Oxford Lecture on Individuation, St. Bonaventure, N.Y.: Franciscan Institute, →ISBN, page xii

   Synonyms: thisness