Single Idea 9070

[catalogued under 18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 2. Abstracta by Selection]

Full Idea

We must get to know the primitives by induction; for this is the way in which perception instils universals.

Gist of Idea

We learn primitives and universals by induction from perceptions

Source

Aristotle (Posterior Analytics [c.327 BCE], 100b04)

Book Reference

Aristotle: 'Posterior Analytics (2nd ed)', ed/tr. Barnes,Jonathan [OUP 1993], p.74


A Reaction

This statement is so strongly empirical it could have come from John Stuart Mill. The modern post-Fregean view of universals is essentially platonist - that they have a life and logic of their own, and their method of acquisition is irrelevant.