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Document Details : Title: Dietrich of Freiburg on the Succession of Forms in the Intensification of Qualities Author(s): CONOLLY, Brian Francis Journal: Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales Volume: 81 Issue: 1 Date: 2014 Pages: 1-35 DOI: 10.2143/RTPM.81.1.3030621 Abstract : Dietrich of Freiberg defends the succession of forms theory in the intensification of qualities, first by arguing that unlike substances, qualities do not have the interiority that would permit any variation while remaining numerically the same. He argues further that because degrees of intensity are properties of a quality, and because properties are both relative and privative, they cannot be the terminus of a motion; rather only a new quality can. The most important philosophical objection to the succession of forms with respect to the intensification of qualities is that it seems to entail a passage through an actual infinity of degrees of intensity. Dietrich responds to this objection by arguing that intensification is not a continuous motion. Instead, he argues, intensification proceeds through a series of very small, but finite, qualitative leaps, resulting in a motion that is discrete, stepwise and discontinuous. |
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