THE INTANGIBLE “SINGULARITY” OF THE HUMAN BEING OBSERVED THROUGH THE “SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION OF THE FüHLEN”

Edith Stein’s interpreters usually read her discussion of theontological question of singularity of the human being as a furtherdevelopment of Aristotle’s and Thomas’ thought. I hold that Stein’s link to the Thomistic-Aristotelian tradition is not more intense and tighter than the one with Duns Scotus. Through the analysis of Scotus’ works I’ll try to show that for Stein the Thomistic materia signata quantitate is not sufficient to grasp the deep meaning of the (unique) individuation principle, because it doesn’t allow to go beyond the general relationship between matter and form that cannot tell anything about the individual. Hence, Stein claims that the principium individuationis cannot be found simply by specifying somehow connected genera and species, but it has to be observed in its qualitative fullness as it acts in the human reality. It is related to our being’s deep ontological levels that can be grasped through the “spiritual perception of the Fühlen”.