haecceity

haecceity
Term used by Duns Scotus for that in virtue of which an individual is the individual that it is: its individuating essence making it this object or person. Haecceitism is the doctrine that there are such individual concepts. In modern discussion the term was revived by the American philosopher of language David Kaplan (‘How to Russell a Frege-Church’, Journal of Philosophy, 1975) in the idiom of possible worlds : ‘the doctrine that holds that it does make sense to ask—without reference to common attributes or behaviour—whether this is the same individual in another possible world…and that a common “thisness” may underlie extreme dissimilarity or distinct thisnesses may underlie great resemblance.’ See counterpart theory.

Philosophy dictionary. . 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Haecceity — (from the Latin haecceitas , which translates as thisness ) is a term from medieval philosophy first coined by Duns Scotus which denotes the discrete qualities, properties or characteristics of a thing which make it a particular thing. Haecceity… …   Wikipedia

  • Haecceity — H[ae]c*ce i*ty (h[e^]k*s[=e] [i^]*t[y^]), [L. h[ae]cce this.] (Logic) Literally, this ness. A scholastic term to express individuality or singleness; as, this book …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • haecceity — [hek sē′ə tē] n. 〚ML haecceitas < L haec, fem. of hic, this + itas, ity〛 the condition of being a uniquely particular person or thing; individuality * * * …   Universalium

  • haecceity — [hek sē′ə tē] n. [ML haecceitas < L haec, fem. of hic, this + itas, ity] the condition of being a uniquely particular person or thing; individuality …   English World dictionary

  • haecceity — noun /hɛkˈsiːətiː,hiːkˈsiːətiː/ The essence of a particular thing; those qualities that define it and make it unique …   Wiktionary

  • haecceity — [hɛk si:ɪti, hi:k ] noun Philosophy 1》 the quality of a thing that makes it unique or describable as ‘this (one)’. 2》 individuality. Origin C17: from med. L. haecceitas, from L. haec, feminine of hic this …   English new terms dictionary

  • haecceity — haec·ce·i·ty …   English syllables

  • haecceity — /haɪˈkeɪəti/ (say huy kayuhtee) noun Philosophy (in the philosophy of Duns Scotus) the discrete properties or characteristics of a thing which determine its individuality. Compare quiddity (def. 1). {Latin haeccitas this ness} …  

  • haecceity —   n. thisness ; quality of being here at present …   Dictionary of difficult words

  • haecceity —    refer to the entries on experience , individuation , percept + literature , phenomenology + Husserl and post structuralism + politics …   The Deleuze dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”