Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Scholasticism are realist/dualist views of nature, and are consistent with a dualist view of the mind. Conceptualism asserts that universals exist only as constructs of the mind, and have no existence outside of the mind. Platonism, Aristotelianism, and Scholasticism assert that universals are real, in one sense or another. So what is a universal? There are four general ways that philosophers have tried to explain universals, and they may be termed Platonism, Aristotelianism, Conceptualism, and Scholasticism.
It is abstracted from particular things by your mind when you imagine red things. I can talk about redness and you know just what I mean.Īs a universal, which is a pattern or quality shared by some particular object, redness is abstract. Yet it clearly exists: we can speak of it easily. It has no dimensions and no particularity. This “redness” is abstract: there is no particular object that is “redness” itself. “Redness” is the universal that these particular red objects share in common. Particular objects include a red rose, a red fire truck, a red sunset, and a red dress. Universals are patterns that particular objects in nature share in common. The most obvious abstract kind of thought is thought about universals. To understand the debate, it is helpful to consider the types of abstract objects of thought. How can an abstract thought be wholly the product of brain matter? The materialist argues (implausibly) that it can.
This question about the material/immaterial nature of abstract thought is crucial to the debate over the plausibility of materialism. The classical hylemorphic model of the mind - as championed by Aristotle and his interpreters - asserts that some aspects of the mind, such as the intellect, are immaterial in nature. Materialism asserts that all aspects of the mind, including abstract thought, are material in nature.
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