 Another reason that some scholars have thought that Aristotle needs something like prime matter is to serve as a so-called “principle of individuation”. While the predominant view has been that this role is reserved for matter, other scholars have maintained either that Aristotle means it to be form, or that he does not see the need for a principle of individuation at all. Some of this controversy seems to have resulted from a failure to be clear about what a principle of individuation is, or what problem it is supposed to solve.