A Dictionary of Philosophy, Third Edition
. Anglicized form of haecceitas (literally ‘thisness’), introduced by SCOTUS for an individual essence, i.e. an essence peculiar to and distinguishing an individual, not an essence of a species. Haecceitism is the belief in haecceities, and anti-haecceitism their rejection, or else the rejection of primitive transworld identity (see POSSIBLE WORLDS).
R.M.Adams, ‘Primitive thisness and primitive identity’, Journal of Philosophy, 1979.
(Discusses Leibniz’s position, identity of indiscernibles, and defends primitive thisness and primitive transworld identities, though insisting they are different and independent notions.)
D.Kaplan, ‘How to Russell a Frege-Church’, Journal of Philosophy, 1975, pp. 722–3, reprinted in M.Loux (ed.), The Possible and the Actual: Readings in the Metaphysics of Modality, Cornell UP, 1979, pp. 216–17. (Haecceitism and anti-haecceitism.)
G.S.Rosenkrantz, Haecceity: an Ontological Essay, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1993.
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