Nominalism (and realism)

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Hugo Keiper (Karl-Franzens-Universit)

The Literary Encyclopedia. WORLD HISTORY AND IDEAS: A CROSS-CULTURAL VOLUME.
Vol. editors: Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia), Jessica E. Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Grace Moore (University of Otago), Cristina Sandru (The Literary Encyclopedia)

Domains

Schools and Theories (philosophy)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1000

Places

Ancient Greece (Location)
Europe, Europe - West (Location)

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General theoretical, typological and system(at)ic backgrounds and implications

Historical aspects: (1) The historical reconstruction and development of nominalism (and realism)

Historical aspects: (2) The origin(s), historical development and import of ‘the debate’

Definitions

Nominalism is a fundamental doctrine, position or notion in philosophy, semiotics, linguistics and various other fields concerned with the study of human languages and sign systems. While semiotic or philosophical realism holds that universal or general terms have some sort of independent, ‘essential’, or ‘substantial’ existence outside of or preceding language and the mind, nominalism maintains that universals “have no existence independently of being thought and are mere names, representing nothing that really exists” (Flew 1979: “nominalism.1.”). Based on the widespread distinction that “[t]hings are particulars and their qualities are universals” (Flew 1979: “universals and...

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6260 words

Citation: Keiper, Hugo. "Nominalism (and realism)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=779, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Nominalism (and realism)

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