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2 ideas
13573 | Universals are all types of natural kind [Ellis] |
Full Idea: The various kinds of universals are all natural kinds of one sort or another. | |
From: Brian Ellis (Scientific Essentialism [2001], 1.01) | |
A reaction: This doesn't sound right. What about the universals of mathematics, or universals which are a matter of social or linguistic convention? I think Ellis is trying to hijack the word 'universal' in response to Armstrong's more idealistic account. |
13572 | There are 'substantive' (objects of some kind), 'dynamic' (events of some kind) and 'property' universals [Ellis] |
Full Idea: Three categories of universals: 'substantive' universals have instances that are members of natural kinds of objects or substances; 'dynamic' universals are kinds of events or processes; 'property' universals are tropes of real properties or relations. | |
From: Brian Ellis (Scientific Essentialism [2001], 1.01) | |
A reaction: I would want to distinguish real properties from relations. It is important to remember that an object can traditionally instantiate a universal, and that they aren't just properties. |