The paper presents Suárez’s view on the individuation of beings, which he developed in his Disputatio V, De unitate individuali eiusque principio. The aim, apart from simply presenting Doctor Eximius’s thought, is also to compare his views with his scholastic predecessors. When considering the question of individuation, Suárez remained under a considerable influence of the medieval tradition, which, however, he transformed in his writings according to his own convictions. He used the language of Duns Scotus when speaking of individuation and determining it in terms of indivisibility, but rejected the idea of individuation by matter, classically attributed to the Thomistic School. Postulating the individuation principle, identified with the entity, and not with the act of existence nor the being of haecceitas, Suárez departed from non-classical interpretations of the thought of Thomas Aquinas as well as from the Scotistic solutions, and postulated a view that to some extent resembled that of Ockham and Bonaventure, although Suárez does not explicitly refer to the latter.
The article deals with the concept of a human being with respect to its composition from soul and body. The discussion of this topic was very important and fruitful in the 13th century. It was stimulated by Aristotle's writings appearing at that time in Christian Europe. The article focuses on the most important 13th century authors who contributed to that discussion: Albert the Great, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, and Latin averroists. During this discussion of soul and body, there was a shift from a platonic philosophical framework to an Aristotelian one. It also resulted in the Church doctrine of human soul.
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