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    Singular terms like 'Socrates' signify individual substan... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The term 'homo' is properly common.

    Singular terms like 'Socrates' signify individual substances directly, and 'homo' similarly picks out concrete individuals, not universals.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Names like 'Socrates' have determinate reference only to particular individuals, not to abstract universal properties or essences.
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    • 2.Common nouns like 'homo' function in language by picking out the concrete particulars that instantiate them in the world.
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    • 3.Medieval semantics (Aquinas, Ockham) successfully explained predication without positing abstract universals as separate entities.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.'Homo' applies to infinitely many individuals across time; no single concrete particular can be the direct referent of such terms.
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    • 2.If 'homo' signifies only individuals, the truth conditions of 'Socrates is a homo' remain unexplained—predication requires universal content.
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    • 3.We can meaningfully discuss what makes something human (essential properties) independently of any particular human; this indicates universal reference.
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    Related

    'Homo' applies to infinitely many individuals across time; no single concrete pa...Common nouns like 'homo' function in language by picking out the concrete partic...If 'homo' signifies only individuals, the truth conditions of 'Socrates is a hom...Medieval semantics (Aquinas, Ockham) successfully explained predication without ...
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    Names like 'Socrates' have determinate reference only to particular individuals,...The term 'homo' is properly common.We can meaningfully discuss what makes something human (essential properties) in...

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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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