CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2012
| Author | Nyulászi, Magdolna |
|---|---|
| Title | The Ontological Foundations of the Stoic Theory of Identity and Individuation |
| Summary | The Stoics professed the view that material objects cannot be identified and individuated in function of their material constitution, because matter is not individuable and of a fleeting identity. Instead, they affirmed that objects persist and are individuated in a perceptible way in virtue of having peculiar qualities. However, it is not exactly clear what kind of metaphysical entity in the Stoic philosophical system could have fulfilled the double role attributed to peculiar qualities, since it is really hard to conceive of an essential quality that can account for the object’s uniqueness in a perceptible way. Although our sources do not give us any precise information as to what peculiar qualities could be, based on the available evidence it has been suggested that it is the pneuma permeating individuals that accounts for their persistence and perceptible qualitative uniqueness. Nevertheless, as I will argue, the pneuma, itself being a material object, cannot serve as a criterion of identity and a principle of individuation for material objects, since its own identity is not any more grounded than the identity of the entities it is supposed to identify. I will conclude that the Stoics’ ontological commitment to the corporeality of all existent things and their conception of material objects taken together, makes it impossible for them to account for the identity and individuation of objects in virtue of their qualification. |
| Supervisor | Betegh, Gábor |
| Department | Philosophy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2012/nyulaszi_magdolna.pdf |
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