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Inverse View
It is not the case that Abstractive cognition of universals is sufficient for intellectual proposition-formation without any direct intuition of existing particulars.
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Reasons For
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Reason for
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1.
Universals themselves must originate from abstraction over intuited particulars; pure conceptual manipulation cannot bootstrap meaning.
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2.
Propositions about universals gain truth-conditions only when grounded in how particulars actually instantiate those universals.
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3.
Without reference to existing particulars, abstract propositions risk vacuity—syntactic coherence does not guarantee semantic content.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Mathematical propositions about abstract structures require no intuition of physical particulars, yet are rigorously meaningful.
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2.
Logical laws governing universals (non-contradiction, excluded middle) hold independently of whether any particular instances exist.
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3.
Language can express complex propositions about unicorns or empty sets without requiring perceptual acquaintance with real objects.
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