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Inverse View
It is not the case that Aquinas and Averroists held that matter itself, as designated quantity, serves as the principle of individuation without requiring a distinct haecceity.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
Designated quantity assumes matter is already countable and divisible, but individuation must explain what makes matter itself divisible into distinct portions.
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2.
Two matter-portions with identical quantity in different locations require something beyond quantity to account for their numerical difference—circularity threatens.
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3.
Aquinas elsewhere appeals to form-matter composition as fundamental; reducing individuation to matter alone conflicts with his hylomorphic metaphysics.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Matter occupies distinct spatial locations; this spatial differentiation naturally explains why two qualitatively identical substances remain numerically distinct.
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2.
Positing haecceity as a separate principle multiplies entities beyond necessity; designated quantity alone suffices to account for individuation.
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3.
Empirically, we identify individual objects by their material composition and spatial boundaries, not by abstract substantial forms like haecceity.
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