Individuals and Names of Individuals in the First Half of the Twelfth Century. The Growth of a Discussion around the "Singular Form"

This article investigates various twelfth-century commentaries on Porphyry's Isagoge, with special reference to their analysis of "species" in the sense of "the form of each thing" (uniuscuiusque forma). This sense of the word "species" was meant to be non-technical by Porphyry, but was taken in rather technical way by twelfth-century commentators. The article shows how the discussion spirals into increasing complexity (also due to interactions with other notions by Boethius and Priscian). The appendix contains the edition of several relevant passages.