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Universals

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Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy

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Abstract

Medieval discussions of universals are some of the most sophisticated and sustained discussions in the history of philosophy. This article focuses on medieval discussions of the ontological status of universals. Speculations about the existence of universal things were prompted by what was said (and what was not said) in ancient Greek treatises on logic and metaphysics. Throughout the medieval period, philosophers divided roughly into those who believed that there was some mind-independent reality that was common to many particulars (i.e., realism) and those who believed that universality was a mind-dependent property (i.e., anti-realism, or nominalism). Anti-realists critiqued contemporary versions of realism. Realists responded to the anti-realists with ever more sophisticated accounts of the real basis for predication and classification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Andrew W. Arlig

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  1. Andrew W. Arlig
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Henrik Lagerlund

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Arlig, A.W. (2011). Universals. In: Lagerlund, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_510

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9729-4_510

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-9728-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-9729-4

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