Haecceity

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 is a person or object's "thisness".

Charles Peirce later used the term as a non-descriptive reference to an individual.

Haecceity and Quiddity

Haecceity may be defined in some dictionaries as simply the "essence" of a thing, or as a simple synonym for quiddity or hypokeimenon. However, such a definition deprives the term of its subtle distinctiveness and utility. Whereas haecceity refers to aspects of a thing which make it a "particular" thing, quiddity refers to the universal qualities of a thing, its "whatness", or the aspects of a thing which it may share with other things and by which it may form part of a genus of things. Duns Scotus makes the following distinction:

It is important to note that while terms such as haecceity, quiddity, noumenon and hypokeimenon all evoke the essence of a thing, they each have subtle differences and refer to different aspects of the thing's essence.

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari repopularized the term in the late 20th century, as in the following quotation: "There is no general prescription. We have done with all globalizing concepts. Even concepts are haecceities, events."

ources

* Deleuze, Gilles and Félix Guattari. 1980. "A Thousand Plateaus". Trans. Brian Massumi. London and New York: Continuum, 2004. Vol. 2 of "Capitalism and Schizophrenia". 2 vols. 1972-1980. Trans. of "Mille Plateaux". Paris: Les Editions de Minuit. ISBN 0826476945.

See also

* Duns Scotus
* Principle of individuation

External links

* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/medieval-haecceity/"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" article — "Medieval Theories of Haecceity"]