The problem of Individuation in corporeal substances and Thomas Aquinas’ solution

Abstract

This paper will present the notion of “individual” according with the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas seeking to identify the questions involving this notion. First, as an introduction, we observe this notion in general in some philosophical theories, but after we entered properly in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Only the individuation of the corporal substance will be presented, because Thomas have a different theory to the incorporeal substances, such as the angels, God and the separated souls. So, the Thomas’s theory claims that the principle of individuation is the signaled matter, but such signaled matter is that which is considered as having certain dimensions. Our main concern will be to identify what means the expression “certain dimensions”. We will use an explanation few habitual to clear this problem. Since that Thomas says that, in the hilemorphism, the matter receive the being from form, we will defend that there’s a conjunct of proprieties of the matter that receive the being from form.