The Influence of Original Sin on the Debate of Universals in Middle Ages

One of the most debated problems during the Middle Ages was the problem of the ontology of general concepts or universals which originated from the three important questions of Porphyry in his Introduction to Aristotle's Categories, i.e. Isagogé. The translation of this work from Greek to Latin and its commentary by Boethius is an important factor to flourish the problem of ontology of universals and to appear three main views concerning this problem: realism, conceptualism, and nouminalism. It seems that, nevertheless, among the important causes of extension and development of this problem in Middle Ages is its close relationship with some of Christian doctrines such as God's foreknowledge, trinity, and original sin. Therefore, it can to say that theological motives of medieval thinkers have had a great influence on flourishing and extension of the debates of universals. One of the most theologian problems that has a close relationship with the problem of universals is the doctrine of original sin. The account of the nature of original sin and quality of its transmission from Adam and Eve to human generation from some thinkers of Middle Ages such as Anselm and Odo became the main cause of emerging the collective realism theory concerning the ontology of universals.