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Single Idea 7960

[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / B. Properties / 13. Tropes / b. Critique of tropes ]

Full Idea

Of all the nominalist solutions, Trope Nominalism is the only one that tries to solve the problem at issue by introducing entities; all the others try to get by with concrete particulars and sets of them. This might invite Ockham's Razor.

Clarification

'Ockham's Razor' eliminates what is inessential

Gist of Idea

Trope Nominalism is the only nominalism to introduce new entities, inviting Ockham's Razor

Source

Cynthia Macdonald (Varieties of Things [2005], Ch.6)

Book Ref

Macdonald,Cynthia: 'Varieties of Things' [Blackwell 2005], p.236

A Reaction

We could reply that tropes are necessities. The issue seems to be a key one, which is whether our fundamental onotology should include properties (in some form or other). I am inclined to exclude them (Ideas 3322, 3906, 4029).

Related Ideas

Idea 3322 Quine says that if second-order logic is to quantify over properties, that can be done in first-order predicate logic [Quine, by Benardete,JA]

Idea 3906 If possible worlds are needed to define properties, maybe we should abandon properties [Scruton]

Idea 4029 Nominalists ask why we should postulate properties at all [Mellor/Oliver]

The 22 ideas with the same theme [arguments against the existence of tropes]:

14327 Trope theorists cannot explain how tropes resemble each other [Russell, by Mumford]
15480 Objects are not bundles of tropes (which are ways things are, not parts of things) [Martin,CB]
8538 Trope theory needs extra commitments, to symmetry and non-transitivity, unless resemblance is exact [Armstrong]
4445 If properties and relations are particulars, there is still the problem of how to classify and group them [Armstrong]
15750 Tropes need a similarity primitive, so they cannot be used to explain similarity [Lewis]
15749 Trope theory (unlike universals) needs a primitive notion of being duplicates [Lewis]
15748 Trope theory needs a primitive notion for what unites some tropes [Lewis]
8527 More than one trope (even identical ones!) can occupy the same location [Daly]
8528 If tropes are linked by the existence of concurrence, a special relation is needed to link them all [Daly]
10742 Tropes can overlap, and shouldn't be splittable into parts [Oliver]
4611 The supporters of 'tropes' treat objects as bundles of tropes, when I think objects 'possess' properties [Heil]
4483 If abstract terms are sets of tropes, 'being a unicorn' and 'being a griffin' turn out identical [Loux]
18352 Tropes have existence independently of any entities [Lowe]
8286 Tropes cannot have clear identity-conditions, so they are not objects [Lowe]
8294 How can tropes depend on objects for their identity, if objects are just bundles of tropes? [Lowe]
8296 Does a ball snug in plaster have one trope, or two which coincide? [Lowe]
8295 Why cannot a trope float off and join another bundle? [Lowe]
12253 If tropes are in space and time, in what sense are they abstract? [Oderberg]
4462 A colour-trope cannot be simple (as required), because it is spread in space, and so it is complex [Moreland]
4463 In 'four colours were used in the decoration', colours appear to be universals, not tropes [Moreland]
7959 How do a group of resembling tropes all resemble one another in the same way? [Macdonald,C]
7960 Trope Nominalism is the only nominalism to introduce new entities, inviting Ockham's Razor [Macdonald,C]