principium individuationisn.

1637 G. Gillespie Dispute against Eng.-Popish Ceremonies iv. ii. 5 In morall actions, modus adjectus is principium individuationis, and nothing else doth individualize a morall action.

1694 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding (new ed.) ii. xxvii. 179 'Tis easie to discover, what is so much enquired after, the principium Individuationis, and that 'tis plain is Existence it self.

1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. iv. 349 In order to justify this system, there are four things requisite. First, To explain the principium individuationis.

1883 F. H. Bradley Princ. Logic 265 It was shown above..that space and time-relations are no principium individuationis; for they fall within the what, and do not make the this.

1898 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 8 494 In the empirical domain man is distinct from man, but the difference does not belong to the real essence of the universe. It is entirely due to space and time, which he therefore calls the principium individuationis.

1947 Horizon Feb. 150 But above this layer of all-embracing ‘identification’ Sorge reappears as principium individuationis, isolating a person and stimulating his intellect into the frightful awareness of his nakedness and his fate.

1965 Listener 2 Sept. 344/1 Something..must divide us from other people, there must be some kind of principium individuationis.

2004 R. Scruton Death-devoted Heart v. 127 I am distinguished from other individuals by a principium individuationis—a principle of individuation—which is that of spatio-temporal continuity. It is only in space and time that individuals are distinguishable.