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CONCERNING BEING AND ESSENCE 15 

material part of the whole itself, as the body is the material 
part of man. But the name signifying that whence the nature 
of species is taken, with the exclusion of designated matter, 
signifies the formal part. And therefore humanity is signified 
as a certain form, and is spoken of as that which is the form 
of the whole; not indeed as if it were superadded to the essen- 
tial parts, namely, to form and matter, as for instance the form 
of a house is superadded to its integral parts; but rather it is 
form that is the whole, that is, embracing form and matter, 
yet with the exclusion of those things by means of which mat- 
ter is found to be designated. So, therefore, it is clear that the 
name man and the name humanity signify the essence of man, 
but in different modes, as has been said, since the name man 
signifies it as a whole, inasmuch as it does not exclude the 
designation of matter but contains it implicitly and indis- 
tinctly, as for instance it has been said that the genus contains 
the difference. And therefore the name man is predicated of 
individuals. But the name humanity signifies the essence as a 
part, since it does not contain in its signification anything ex- 
cept what is of man inasmuch as he is man, and because it ex- 
cludes all designation of matter; whence it is not predicated 
of individual man. And for this reason likewise the name 
essence sometimes is found predicated of a thing, for Socrates 
is said to be an essence, and sometimes it is denied, as for in- 
stance it is said that the essence of Socrates is not Socrates.