Suárez’ Compositional Account of Substance

Abstract

Abstract According to Francisco Suárez, a substance is literally composed of many entities and therefore displays a complex internal structure. The chapter examines this compositional account of substance, arguing that Suárez radically transformed hylomorphism. It first looks at the ‘thin substance’, which consists of form and matter as the most basic entities. It pays particular attention to Suárez’ thesis that these two entities are really distinct from each other and therefore in need of a special relation that connects them. The chapter then analyses the ‘thick substance’, which has additional powers and properties. All of them are distinct entities that somehow enrich the form-matter compound. In providing this compositional account, Suárez presents metaphysics as a way of doing reverse engineering: we do not know what a substance is unless we decompose it in our thoughts and reconstruct it.