Firstly, what are universals?
In philosophy, the term “universals” refers to concepts or properties that are shared by many different particular things. Universals are often thought of as abstract entities that exist independently of the specific objects or instances that instantiate them.
For example, the concept of “redness” is a universal because it can be found in many different particular objects such as apples, roses, and stop signs. The property of being “red” is not tied to any specific instance of an object, but rather it is a shared property that exists across all objects that are red.
There are different views on the nature of universals, with some philosophers arguing that universals exist independently of the objects that instantiate them, while others maintain that universals are merely mental constructs or linguistic conveniences that we use to make sense of the world.
The debate over the nature of universals is closely related to the problem of universals, which concerns the relationship between abstract concepts and the physical world. The problem of universals has been a central issue in philosophy for thousands of years, and it continues to be debated by philosophers to this day.
The Problem of Universals
The problem of universals is a long-standing philosophical debate about the nature of concepts and their relationship to reality. It is concerned with the question of whether abstract concepts like “redness,” “beauty,” or “justice” exist independently of the objects that instantiate them or whether they are merely mental constructs that exist only in the mind of the person who conceives them.
At its core, the problem of universals can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Plato believed that the objects we perceive in the physical world are mere copies or imitations of the real objects, which he called Forms or Ideas. For Plato, these Forms or Ideas were the true reality, and everything in the physical world was merely an imperfect copy of them.
This view of reality raises the question of how we can have knowledge of these Forms or Ideas, and how we can talk about them. If the Forms or Ideas are not present in the physical world, then how can we recognize them or describe them?
Aristotle, Plato’s student, offered a different perspective on the problem of universals. According to Aristotle, concepts like “redness,” “beauty,” or “justice” are not abstract entities that exist independently of the objects that instantiate them. Instead, they are merely mental constructs that exist in the mind of the person who conceives them.
This view is known as nominalism, and it has been a major position in the debate over the problem of universals throughout the history of philosophy. Nominalists argue that there are no universal entities that exist independently of the objects that instantiate them. Instead, they maintain that our concepts and generalizations are just convenient mental constructs that we use to make sense of the world.
Another prominent position in the debate over the problem of universals is realism. Realists argue that abstract concepts like “redness,” “beauty,” or “justice” do exist independently of the objects that instantiate them. According to this view, there is a realm of abstract entities that exists alongside the physical world, and these abstract entities are the true reality.
The debate over the problem of universals has continued to the present day, with contemporary philosophers offering new perspectives and arguments. Some contemporary philosophers have argued for a middle ground between nominalism and realism, known as conceptualism. According to conceptualism, concepts like “redness,” “beauty,” or “justice” are neither mere mental constructs nor independent entities that exist outside of the mind. Instead, they are mental representations of the common features that objects share.
Despite the long history of the problem of universals, there is still no consensus among philosophers about the nature of abstract concepts and their relationship to reality. The debate continues, with philosophers continuing to offer new arguments and perspectives on this fundamental philosophical problem.