nominalism

This paper is about the condemnation of 1277 that was issued by the bishop of Paris (Etienne Tempier) against the Aristotelian, Thomistic and Averroist theological teachings. This condemnation was initially aimed at protecting the doctrine of God's absolute power and critique of the philosophical and theological reasoning about God, but later it led to new developments that were outside of the initial goals of its founders and were in conflict with it. This research, using an analytical approach, tries to provide an analysis of the backgrounds and philosophical and theological disagreements that led to the condemnation of 1277, and to present a map of its conceptual scope. Then, we have discussed some of the epistemological and theological implications of this condemnation, among which the doctrine of God's absolute power is the most prominent and one of the main goals of this condemnation. But we have also raised and analyzed the long-term implications such as nominalism, secularism, and the development of modern science and its departure from the Platonic perspective, and it has shown that these are hidden implications that were not only unintended by the founders of the condemnation but also in conflict with their main lines of thought.

Interaction between knowledge branches can have good achievements for human society. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches also have the potential to bring us, albeit by a few steps, closer to what the real world is. However, this is not always the case! Sometimes the guild of epistemology longs to go beyond its own territory and dominate other guilds of knowledge, and this is the scientific imperialism of one branch of knowledge over the other. In this article, I try to show such a colonial interaction regarding the dominance of the school of nominalism over sociology in the form of the domination of psychology and economics. The research methods used in this article are of two types: library and basics analysis. The finding shows that nominalist social ontology can lead to the isolation and diminution of the social and the fattening of individual-centered discourse. In particular, the fact that both psychology and economics have pioneered this. In such a way that the imperialist epistemology of these two types of knowledge is increasingly dominating sociological thinking. In a way, their individual-centered ontologies have dominated the collective ontologies of sociology, and this type of ontology has also increasingly dominated the analysis of social issues. These conditions have led to a kind of reductionism in the analysis of social events. In addition, sciences such as economics and psychology, based on individualistic ontologies, try to explain phenomena that are clearly social in nature, and this is nothing but an imperialist invasion of the field of knowledge that can lead to fallacies. This imperialism causes it to create double darkness instead of shedding light on the path of knowledge.

The universals are one of the controversial topics that have attracted philosophers’ attention since Aristotle’s discussion. E. J. Lowe is an Aristotelian Philosopher who has worked on universals. This article tries to perform a critical analysis of Aristotelian universals from E.J.Lowe's viewpoint. We will explain Lowe’s argument in favor of Realism will be analyzed. Illustrating weaknesses of opposite theories, he rejects all possibilities but Realist’s claim. Lowe believes that his view is able to provide a powerful explanatory framework for natural law. Without universals, Lowe holds, natural events are nothing but permanent regularities that originate from accidental generalization. So universals play a key role in his ontological system and only with the aid of them natural laws are justifiable. Propositions of natural laws deal with nature of entities, namely universals, whereas particulars instances by themselves are not able to establish a firm basis for natural laws owing to the fact that particulars refers to existent state of affairs. Following Aristotle, Lowe argues that Immanent universals are more reasonable. He holds that universals are abstract (by abstract, he means the entities that don’t have spatiotemporal features) because he thinks that concreteness of universals has some contradictory results (concrete entity is not abstract). We will consider strengths and weaknesses existing in his ideas. Authors believe that universal thanks to their different nature could be (and actually are) concrete.

In the discussion of the religious language, different philosophers have each addressed their own theoretical foundations and tried to theorize about this issue. However, in contemporary debates about the religious language, the relationship between nominalist approaches and the religious language has not yet been systematically examined and the dimensions of the debate have not been clarified. In this article, while introducing one of the most radical nominalist theories, namely Reism, we have studied the relationship between reism and the religious language. To this end, we assessed the historical relationship between nominalism and the religious language, especially from Ockham to Kant, and then, by proposing Kotarbinski's semantical perspectives as well as the logical system of reism, we applied reism to the religious language.

The cognitive approach (4E), along with the logical reasoning of existentialism provides this opportunity to eliminate the common duality of metaphysics and provides new methodologies regardless of objective-subjective cognitive relation as the basis of quantitative and qualitative concepts. The need for such a design lies both in the human's existential feature and in the inadequacy of the existing methodologies in guiding the theoretical principles of fundamental researches and art. At the beginning of the present study, terminology will determine that all concepts indicate the enactment and establishment and the etymology of the term "methodology" also indicates that the suffix of “logy” is related to transcendence and emergence, and not cognition. Finally, the substitution of methodology which indicated the methods with the domain-nature concept represents a new domain-nature methodology called “Neheshtan”. In this domain-nature enactment, human beings are enacted as "Neheshta" and not “recognized” through enactment by non-human. This domain-nature enactment acquires its authenticity from its correlations with other things and does not have an atomistic view towards the phenomena. domain-nature Neheshtan does not presume knowledge as a possible thing or even impossible ideal, whereas it first presume that the separation of existence and cognition is impossible and then it replace the concept of observation with “Nehesh” assuming that knowledge is replaced and perception and humans’ existence are unified.

This article examines epistemological nominalism and its effects on conventional economics. Nominalism has influenced on the applied method of economics that includes hypothetical thinking and methodological individualism.  This applied method in turn has led to some effects in analysis, like the formation of civil society theory, the meaning changing of distributive justice, and the theory of utility and focus on microeconomics. On the contrary, the practical wisdom of Islamic economic can  achieve a self-applied method by applying the fundamental method of Islamic wisdom.  The islamic wisdom, especially Transcendent Wisdom regards the universe as truth and indication from the outside by a critique of nominalism. The applied method of Islamic economic is based on the ontology of the issues and in each subject depends on the type of being that subject. Therefore, it only uses the empirical methods and exceptional deduction in material matters that are capable of experience and other methods apply to other topics. On the other hand, the narrated proofs have a special place in the applied method of Islamic economic. This applied method has effects that recognition of human essence and its relation to economic action are among them. This paper examines nominalism and its effects on mainstream economics through a critical analytical and library method and suggests an applied alternative method to the practical wisdom of Islamic economics.

The subject of this article is to criticize and investigate the coequality of the theory of evolution and 'Motion in the Category of Substance' in regard to semantics and epistemology. Since both theories highlight gradual changing, can they be considered common and in the same direction? The two theories seem to have some differences in regard to semantics and epistemology such that they cannot be considered identical; because the theory of evolution is based on nominalism in regard to semantics, and does not accept the existence of the generic universal forms; and the changes in the theory of evolution means the change of one being to another but in the theory of motion in the category of substance it means transformation and this theory is based on universals and the specific forms. The coequality of the two theories of evolution and 'motion in the category of substance' is criticized and investigated in this article.

In 1956, Nelson Goodman offers a theory of mereological nominalism, according to which there is nothing but concrete individuals. This paper examines the relation of aesthetics to nominalism in Goodman’s philosophy and shows that Goodman’s aesthetics is a nominalist aesthetics. This claim is justified by exploring Goodman’s theories of ‘definition of art’, ‘artwork’s content’, and ‘value of art’: (1) in the problem of definition, art is defined by some syntactical and semantic features of works of art. But, these features are not essential parts; (2) in the problem of content, in the case of representation of universals and non-existents and in the case of expression, it does not suppose an ontological realm, but world of individuals as the referent of artworks. But, works of art still refer to individuals; (3) in the problem of value, although cognition – as artistic value – is common among all works of art and their relation is intrinsic, it is not unique to art. Hence, this cannot be an essential function of art. That Goodman’s aesthetics does not violate nominalism is itself the result of that Goodman’s theory of symbols, in which Goodman solves the aesthetic problems, does not violate nominalism.

"Fundamental methodology" and "applied methodology" are two different but interrelated methodologies. The present paper sheds light on the limits of these two methodologies, and reviews an instance of their interrelation in the field of nominalism. It examines the effect of nominalism on fundamental methodology and shows its effects on the methods of induction, hypothesis-conclusion and interview which are applied methods. The common feature of these methods is that they reject general as they try to achieve science, but the mechanism of rejection is different in each method. The criterion of verifiability and posteriority of science in induction, rejecting the condition of necessity in the hypothetical premise of the method of hypothesis-conclusion and finally resorting to theory testing in Popper's method and general constructivism in the process of specific kind of interview have taken nominalism to the field of applied method.

Universal concepts can be viewed from two perspectives: ontological and epistemological. From an ontological perspective, the nature of universals are dealt with, while from an epistemological perspective, the way we become aware of universal concepts, as well as how they are formed in the mind are discussed. After studying ontological views regarding universals, the present article deals with the way of their formation. The article is to clarify that universal concepts are made while encountering (even a single encounter) particulars, and numerous encounters with several examples or instances are not necessary. However, after these concepts are formed, the more one encounters their instances, the more their accuracy and the better their representation of their instances.

Nominalism is known as a new movement in the field of epistemology versus extreme realism; the movement was developed by William of Ockham at end of middle ages. Okham`s thought influenced next scholars deeply and many of contemporary philosophers agreed with him. In this paper, the principles of Ockham`s epistemological nominalism have been explained and criticized. Ockham`s razor was a fit instrument for him to negate a great number of abstractive and metaphysical beings including objective and subjective universals. Following direct realist empiricism in epistemology and negating Aquinas and other realists` sensible and intelligible, rejected all objective essences and universal mental suppositions and viewed universal concepts of mind to be only a mental sign with logical usage.

It is claimed that the principality and gradation of being, as elaborated in the philosophical thought of Mulla Sadra, lead to nominalism. This claim is raised in different ways. The rejection of natural universals and any kind of immaterial being such as Platonic ideas is one of the results of nominalism. Mentally-posited status of quiddities is the most important reason for those who believe that there is no distance between the philosophical system ofMulla Sadra and nominalism supporting their claim by two other ideas of Mulla Sadra: particular gradation of being and substantial motion. Also some of the commentators of Sadra philosophy, without alluding to the relation between the principality of being and nominalism, asserted that there is no place for natural universals in the philosophical system of Mulla Sadra and his occasional usage of this word stems from the sediment of the idea of principality of quiddity, which was current before Mulla Sadra. This article intends to reject this claim. A precise examination of Mulla Sadra’s philosophy will show that he uses the words such as natural universal, specific form, essence, and quiddity in a new way with a different meaning. Furthermore, he believes in Platonic ideas in a modified way. So, Mulla Sadra is not a nominalist; he is a realist that integrated the theory of Plato and Aristotle. In addition to Platonic ideas, he believes in specific form, natural universal, and quiddity; although they are subordinative beings.

By examining the different meanings of “essence” and “quiddity” in the thought of the Muslim philosophers, and by examining the important origins of Mula Sadraa (transcendent) philosophy, this article will prove that the concepts of essence and quiddity are rejected in his philosophy and are considered as something conventional and as subjective constructs. So this line of thinking is nominalistic in this regard, and therefore is epistemologically a relativistic thought considering the knowledge of reality as something relative. In his philosophy, necessary and absolute knowledge of reality is impossible, and from the methodological viewpoint, this line of thought cannot be classified under rationalistic philosophy. Therefore, this kind of philosophy must rely on methods like intuition or experience.

Universals are a class of mind independent entities, usually contrasted with individuals (or so-called “particulars”), postulated to ground and explain relations of qualitative identity and resemblance among individuals. Individuals are said to be similar in virtue of sharing universals. An apple and a ruby are both red, for example, and their common redness results from sharing a universal. If they are both red at the same time, the universal, red, must be in two places at once. This makes universals quite different from individuals, and controversial. Whether universals are in fact required to explain relations of qualitative identity and resemblance among individuals has engaged metaphysicians for two thousand years. Disputants fall into one of three broad camps. Realists endorse universals. Conceptualists and Nominalists, on the other hand, refuse to accept universals and deny that they are needed. In the present article, the author explains various view concerning universals. Also, challenges faced by such approaches will be studied; and finally, based on a realist view, he will try to prove [existence of] universals.