Problem of universals
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The problem of universals is an ancient question from metaphysics that has inspired a range of philosophical topics and disputes: "Should the properties an object has in common with other objects, suc
Boethius teaching his students
Philosophical realism
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Philosophical realism—usually not treated as a position of its own but as a stance towards other subject matters—is the view that a certain kind of thing has mind-independent existence, i.e. that it e
Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael. In Plato's metaphysics, ever-unchanging Forms, or Ideas, exist apart from particular physical things, and are related to them as their prototype or exemplar. Aristotle's philosophy of reality also aims at the universal. Aristotle finds the universal, which he calls essence, in the commonalities of particular things.
