 Form has a certain priority to matter as the end of generation and as the perfection of the material principle. It is the principle of action and of knowledge. In general, for Bacon, matter is not a mere potency. It is an incomplete something (substance) and so for him matter and form are two incomplete substances that integrate to make one individual substance. In this one has a notion of matter as in some sense a positive thing. It is not a nullity. One way to place Bacon’s position on matter is to situate it between the material monism of David of Dinant and the position of Aquinas that matter is a pure potentiality. For Bacon, matter as a being of essence (esse essentiae) has being in itself. For Aquinas, form alone gives being. But for Bacon the being of essence and existence belong together. Matter, therefore, can be a principle of division. Unlike a monist position, Bacon stresses the plurality of matters. The relation of universal and particular with respect to matter and form in Bacon is complex. One notes the influence of Avicenna. 