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Single Idea 8961
[filed under theme 8. Modes of Existence / E. Nominalism / 1. Nominalism / a. Nominalism
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Full Idea
The two main motivations for nominalism are an admirable commitment to Ockham's Razor, and a queasiness about postulating entities that are unobservable or non-empirical, existing in a non-physical realm.
Gist of Idea
Nominalists are motivated by Ockham's Razor and a distrust of unobservables
Source
J Hoffman/G Rosenkrantz (Platonistic Theories of Universals [2003], 3)
Book Ref
'The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics', ed/tr. Loux,M /Zimmerman,D [OUP 2005], p.56
A Reaction
It doesn't follow that because the entities are unobservable that they are non-physical. Consider the 'interior' of an electron. Neverless I share a love of Ockham's Razor and a deep caution about unobservables.
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[general ideas about nominalism]:
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15386
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If only the singular exists, science is impossible, as that relies on true generalities
[Duns Scotus, by Panaccio]
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15387
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If things were singular they would only differ numerically, but horse and tulip differ more than that
[Duns Scotus, by Panaccio]
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16639
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Only individual bodies exist
[Bacon]
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8494
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Obviously 'Socrates is wise' and 'Socrates has wisdom' express the same fact
[Ramsey]
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10151
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I am a deeply convinced nominalist
[Tarski]
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8505
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Refusal to explain why different tokens are of the same type is to be an ostrich
[Armstrong]
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18957
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Nominalism only makes sense if it is materialist
[Putnam]
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10534
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'Nominalism' used to mean denial of universals, but now means denial of abstract objects
[Dummett]
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9880
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Nominalism assumes unmediated mental contact with objects
[Dummett]
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11913
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For nominalists, predicate extensions are inexplicable facts
[Molnar]
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11962
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Nominalists only accept first-order logic
[Molnar]
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10744
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Nominalism can reject abstractions, or universals, or sets
[Oliver]
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8961
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Nominalists are motivated by Ockham's Razor and a distrust of unobservables
[Hoffman/Rosenkrantz]
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4482
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Austere nominalism has to take a host of things (like being red, or human) as primitive
[Loux]
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21633
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Nominalists suspect that properties etc are our projections, and could have been different
[Williamson]
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9435
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A 'porridge' nominalist thinks we just divide reality in any way that suits us
[Mumford]
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4459
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Moderate nominalism attempts to embrace the existence of properties while avoiding universals
[Moreland]
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