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In scholastic philosophy, "quiddity" (;
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
: ''quidditas'') was another term for the
essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
of an object, literally its "whatness" or "what it is".


Etymology

The term "quiddity" derives from the Latin word ''quidditas'', which was used by the medieval scholastics as a literal translation of the equivalent term in
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...
's
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
''to ti en einai'' (τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι)Aristotle, ''
Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
'', 1029b
or "the what it was to be (a given thing)".


Overview

Quiddity describes properties that a particular substance (e.g. a person) shares with others of its kind. The question "what (quid) is it?" asks for a general description by way of commonality. This is quiddity or "whatness" (i.e., its "what it is"). Quiddity was often contrasted by the scholastic philosophers with the
haecceity Haecceity (; from the Latin ''haecceitas'', which translates as "thisness") is a term from medieval scholastic philosophy, first coined by followers of Duns Scotus to denote a concept that he seems to have originated: the irreducible determination ...
or "thisness" of an item, which was supposed to be a positive characteristic of an individual that caused it to be ''this'' individual, and no other. It is used in this sense in British poet George Herbert's poem, "Quiddity".


Other senses

* In law, the term is used to refer to a quibble or academic point. An example can be seen in Hamlet's graveside speech found in ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. "Where be his quiddities now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures" says Hamlet, referring to a lawyer's quiddities. * Quiddity is the name for the mystical dream sea in
Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...
's novel ''
The Great and Secret Show ''The Great and Secret Show'' is a fantasy novel by British author Clive Barker. It was released in 1989 and it is the first "Book of the Art" in a trilogy, known as The Art Trilogy by fans. The novel is about the conflict between two highly ...
'' that exists as a higher plane of human existence. It is featured as more of a literal sea in the novel's sequel, '' Everville'', and the related short story, " On Amen's Shore".


See also

*
Essence Essence ( la, essentia) is a polysemic term, used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it ...
*
Hypokeimenon ''Hypokeimenon'' (Ancient Greek, Greek: ὑποκείμενον), later often material substratum, is a term in metaphysics which literally means the "underlying thing" (Latin: ''subiectum''). To search for the ''hypokeimenon'' is to search for th ...
*
Ousia ''Ousia'' (; grc, οὐσία) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, as a primary ...
*
Substance theory Substance theory, or substance–attribute theory, is an ontological theory positing that objects are constituted each by a ''substance'' and properties borne by the substance but distinct from it. In this role, a substance can be referred to as ...
* Quidditism


References


External links

* {{Catholic philosophy footer Metaphysics Essentialism Scholasticism