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Full Idea
Pure, extreme nominalism sees all classification as the product of arbitrary convention.
Gist of Idea
Extreme nominalists say all classification is arbitrary convention
Source
Anthony Quinton (The Nature of Things [1973], 9 'Nat')
Book Ref
Quinton,Anthony: 'The Nature of Things' [RKP 1973], p.264
A Reaction
I'm not sure what the word 'arbitrary' is doing there. Nominalists are not daft, and if they can classify any way they like, they are not likely to choose an 'arbitrary' system. Pragmatism tells the right story here.
| 9406 | A class is natural when everybody can spot further members of it [Quinton] |
| 15730 | Extreme nominalists say all classification is arbitrary convention [Quinton] |
| 15728 | The naturalness of a class depends as much on the observers as on the objects [Quinton] |
| 9407 | Properties imply natural classes which can be picked out by everybody [Quinton] |
| 15729 | Uninstantiated properties must be defined using the instantiated ones [Quinton] |
| 8520 | An individual is a union of a group of qualities and a position [Quinton, by Campbell,K] |