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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
    See Original
    Inverse View

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

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 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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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 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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