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Full Idea
Nominalists ask why we should postulate properties at all.
Clarification
Nominalists see language as arbitrary, rather than being fixed by reality
Gist of Idea
Nominalists ask why we should postulate properties at all
Source
DH Mellor / A Oliver (Introduction to 'Properties' [1997], §3)
Book Ref
'Properties', ed/tr. Mellor,D.H. /Oliver,A [OUP 1997], p.4
A Reaction
Objects might be grasped without language, but events cannot be understood, and explanations of events seem inconceivable without properties (implying that they are essentially causal).
4027 | Properties are respects in which particular objects may be alike or differ [Mellor/Oliver] |
4039 | Abstractions lack causes, effects and spatio-temporal locations [Mellor/Oliver] |
4029 | Nominalists ask why we should postulate properties at all [Mellor/Oliver] |
4037 | Ockham's Razor is the principle that we need reasons to believe in entities [Mellor/Oliver] |