Questions tagged [universal-and-particulars]

26 questions
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Nature of Values: Is There Such a Thing as a Universal Value?

Introduction The inquiry into the nature of values isn't merely theoretical; it is a matter of existential importance, especially when the values you've grown up with have been rooted in deception, manipulation, and emotional abuse. From Distorted…
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Does nominalism about kinds/universals entail eliminativism/nihilism about ordinary objects?

If one holds a nominalist or conventionalist view of universals or kind, then do they believe that there are ordinary objects?
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How can I unambiguously differentiate between universals and particulars?

I am posting this question here as the question is philosophical at its core, but is connected to formal ontologies (e.g. DOLCE) used in computation. My background is more in computation than philosophy, so please forgive me for the potential misuse…
O-U-O
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Can we really see or hear action or event?

Concrete nouns refer to material objects which we can see or touch. Abstract nouns refer to things which are not material objects, such as ideas, feelings and situations. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/nouns_2 The…
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How do humans generalize abstract concepts from concrete objects?

To elaborate, I would like to take the definition of square as example, the square is shape with four equal sides and either two sides form a 90 degrees angle, while we can not directly see it. What we see is square with four 10 inches sides or…
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Examples of, or counterexamples to, the concept of erotetic inference?

Suppose that the generality-particularity ordering is the comprehensive ordering on inference. Compare: What is the first integer after 2? What is the first prime integer after 2? (2) would seem more particular than (1). However, I would be…
user40843
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Logical Atomism and Simple Particulars

I read a bit of logical atomism by Russell, but would appreciate if someone explains with examples of what is meant by it. For example, it says that "[a]ccording to logical atomism, all truths are ultimately dependent upon a layer of atomic facts,…
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Could, "If X is red, X has a coloration," possibly be not true like, "Cucumbers are vegetables," is not strictly true?

I just watched this video, I thought it was a joke video at first, but it turned out to be an explanation as to why the metaphysical concept of "vegetables" is not scientifically stable, and that the stable definition comes from the culinary arts…
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Why do realists insist that universals EXIST?

Consider a universe of size 10×10×10. Let there be 10 identical looking apples and 10 identical looking rods in it. Why do realists insist that not just 20 things exists but there also EXISTS something common between some of them? The arguments I've…
Razor
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Kant and the Ship of Theseus

Does Kant's philosophy of perception and intuition imply that the unity of perceived individuals is an intuition? If so, this seems to resolve the various paradoxes of physical individuals such as the problem of change over time and the ship of…
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Is it possible to ask a completely generalized question?

Alternatively, are "absolutely" or "perfectly" generalized questions askable? Note that vs. the use-mention distinction, we can refer to questions that can be mentioned but never asked, so to say, which is the issue, then, here. So considering the…
user40843
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Is generality transitive?

If A is more general than B, and B more so than C, is A more general than C? I would be tempted to think so strictly, but: Supposing that a haecceity is something real, where does it fit into the range of things that there are? Is it, for example,…
user40843
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Do general facts and general properties go hand in hand?

I'm thinking of general properties as normal abstract objects (whatever "normal" means, here). But so I have never been able to get at why there was this strong, recurring thread in esp. scholastic-style theology, in defense of, "For God, there is…
user40843
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Could the boundary between concrete and abstract objects be vague?

Though the SEP article on abstract objects has long weighed on my mind, I never formed much of an opinion about the question until now. The opinion I did have was negative: the ~space/~time definition was unsatisfactory, because we then have the…
user40843
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How come we can convert an E proposition (No A is B --> No B is A) and it's logically equivalent, but we can't do that when doing Aristotelian Logic?

I'm teaching from an 8th grade Logic book that is not very good. I've never taken an actual Logic course; I've just taught myself. The book taught the relationships of equivalence and the square of opposition and is now on to syllogisms and Venn…
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