Individuals, Properties, Names in William of Champeaux and Abelard’s Time: Logica Ingredientibus 62-65 and Its Context

Abstract

The North Star of this dissertation is Isagoge II §14-15, a passage in which Porphyry links individuals to properties. Commenting on this passage (Logica Ingredientibus 62-65), Abelard refers to accounts of individuation through accidents. Moving from the link individuals-properties, this dissertation reviews late 11th-early 12th century commentaries on Porphyry's Isagoge (P3, P14, P17) and on Priscian's Institutiones (the Glosulae tradition). Here individuality, individuation, and the semantics of singular terms are discussed. These discussions depend on the teachings of William of Champeaux, Abelard's schoolmaster and opponent. The aim of this work is an analysis of Logica Ingredientibus 62-64 within its rich textual network, and an inquiry into the centuries-long history of the link individuals-properties, from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (via Boethius and Priscian). The dissertation is supplemented by an anthology of translated passages.