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Single Idea 4481

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / D. Universals / 1. Universals ]

Full Idea

Austere nominalists insist that the realist's universals lack the requisite independent identifiability.

Gist of Idea

Austere nominalists insist that the realist's universals lack the requisite independent identifiability

Source

Michael J. Loux (Metaphysics: contemporary introduction [1998], p.60)

Book Ref

Loux,Michael J.: 'Metaphysics: a contemporary introduction' [Routledge 2000], p.60


A Reaction

Plato's view seems to be that we don't identify universals independently. We ascend The Line, or think about the shadows in The Cave, and infer the universals from an array of particulars (by dialectic).


The 6 ideas from 'Metaphysics: contemporary introduction'

Universals come in hierarchies of generality [Loux]
Nominalism needs to account for abstract singular terms like 'circularity'. [Loux]
Times and places are identified by objects, so cannot be used in a theory of object-identity [Loux]
Austere nominalists insist that the realist's universals lack the requisite independent identifiability [Loux]
Austere nominalism has to take a host of things (like being red, or human) as primitive [Loux]
If abstract terms are sets of tropes, 'being a unicorn' and 'being a griffin' turn out identical [Loux]