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Full Idea
We can say that the form that gives corporeal bulk [molem] or extension to things is the essential nature of quantity. To have bulk is to expel a similar bulk from the same space.
Gist of Idea
We can get at the essential nature of 'quantity' by knowing bulk and extension
Source
Francisco Suárez (Disputationes metaphysicae [1597], 40.4.16), quoted by Robert Pasnau - Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671 539
Book Ref
Pasnau,Robert: 'Metaphysical Themes 1274-1671' [OUP 2011], p.539
A Reaction
This is one step away from asking why, once we knew the bulk and extension of the thing, we would still have any interest in trying to grasp something called its 'quantity'.
Related Idea
Idea 16742 We only know essences through non-essential features, esp. those closest to the essence [Suárez]
| 16673 | Quantity just adds union and location to the extension of parts [Olivi] |
| 16672 | Quantity is the quantified parts of a thing, plus location and coordination [Olivi] |
| 16599 | Ockham says matter must be extended, so we don't need Quantity [William of Ockham, by Pasnau] |
| 16681 | Matter gets its quantity from condensation and rarefaction, which is just local motion [William of Ockham] |
| 16678 | Without magnitude a thing would retain its parts, but they would have no location [Buridan] |
| 16743 | We can get at the essential nature of 'quantity' by knowing bulk and extension [Suárez] |
| 16597 | Quantity is the capacity to be divided [Digby] |
| 16674 | The quantity is just the matter, in that it has extended parts and is diffuse [Charleton] |
| 16671 | Scholastic Quantity either gives a body parts, or spreads them out in a unified way [Pasnau] |