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36-545: Paradigmatically, universals are abstract (e.g. humanity), whereas particulars are concrete (e.g. the personhood of Socrates). However, universals are not necessarily abstract and particulars are not necessarily concrete. For example, one might hold that numbers are particular yet abstract objects. Likewise, some philosophers, such as D. M. Armstrong , consider universals to be concrete. Most do not consider classes to be universals, although some prominent philosophers do, such as John Bigelow. The problem of universals

72-480: A broader view, the main positions are generally considered classifiable as: extreme realism , nominalism (sometimes simply named "anti-realism" with regard to universals), moderate realism , and idealism . Extreme Realists posit the existence of independent, abstract universals to account for attribute agreement. Nominalists deny that universals exist, claiming that they are not necessary to explain attribute agreement. Conceptualists posit that universals exist only in

108-408: A circle and natural numbers as universals. Plato's views on universals did, however, vary across several different discussions. In some cases, Plato spoke as if the perfect circle functioned as the form or blueprint for all copies and for the word definition of circle . In other discussions, Plato describes particulars as "participating" in the associated universal. Contemporary realists agree with

144-421: A number of social objects, including states of the international legal system. Jean Piaget uses the terms "concrete" and "formal" to describe two different types of learning. Concrete thinking involves facts and descriptions about everyday, tangible objects, while abstract ( formal operational ) thinking involves a mental process. Wilfred Sellars Wilfrid Stalker Sellars (May 20, 1912 – July 2, 1989)

180-476: A particular type of thing. The "type" of which it is a part is in itself an abstract object. The abstract–concrete distinction is often introduced and initially understood in terms of paradigmatic examples of objects of each kind: Abstract objects have often garnered the interest of philosophers because they raise problems for popular theories. In ontology , abstract objects are considered problematic for physicalism and some forms of naturalism . Historically,

216-404: A scientific model. Sellars used a fictional tribe, the "Ryleans," since he wanted to address Gilbert Ryle 's The Concept of Mind . Sellars's idea of "myth", heavily influenced by Ernst Cassirer , is not necessarily negative. He saw it as something that can be useful or otherwise, rather than true or false. He aimed to unite the conceptual behavior of the "space of reasons" with the concept of

252-590: A student at the University of Michigan , Wilfrid Sellars was one of the founding members of the first North-American cooperative house for university students , which was then called " Michigan Socialist House " (and which was later renamed " Michigan Cooperative House "). He also campaigned for the socialist candidate Norman Thomas of the Socialist Party of America . Robert Brandom , his junior colleague at Pittsburgh, named Sellars and Willard Van Orman Quine as

288-427: A subjective sense experience . This was one of his most central goals, which his later work described as Kantian . In his paper "The Language of Theories“ (1961), Sellars introduces the concept of Kantian empiricism . Kantian empiricism features a distinction between (1) claims whose revision requires abandonment or modification of the system of concepts in terms of which they are framed (i.e., modification of

324-412: A third realm, different from the external world or from internal consciousness . (See Popper's three worlds .) Another popular proposal for drawing the abstract–concrete distinction contends that an object is abstract if it lacks causal power. A causal power has the ability to affect something causally. Thus, the empty set is abstract because it cannot act on other objects. One problem with this view

360-413: A version of functional role semantics that he had previously defended in prior publications. For Sellars, thoughts are analogous to linguistic utterances, and both thoughts and linguistic utterances gain their content through token thoughts or utterances standing in certain relations with other thoughts, stimuli, and responses. The son of a socialist, Sellars was involved in left-wing politics. As

396-518: Is an ancient problem in metaphysics on the existence of universals. The problem arises from attempts to account for the phenomenon of similarity or attribute agreement among things. For example, grass and Granny Smith apples are similar or agree in attribute, namely in having the attribute of greenness. The issue is how to account for this sort of agreement in attribute among things. There are many philosophical positions regarding universals. Taking " beauty " as an example, four positions are: Taking

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432-539: Is no general consensus as to how to precisely define the two, examples include that things like numbers , sets , and ideas are abstract objects, while plants , dogs , and planets are concrete objects. Popular suggestions for a definition include that the distinction between concreteness versus abstractness is, respectively: between (1) existence inside versus outside space-time ; (2) having causes and effects versus not; 3) being related, in metaphysics , to particulars versus universals ; and (4) belonging to either

468-488: Is said to have been coined by Willard Van Orman Quine . Abstract object theory is a discipline that studies the nature and role of abstract objects. It holds that properties can be related to objects in two ways: through exemplification and through encoding. Concrete objects exemplify their properties while abstract objects merely encode them. This approach is also known as the dual copula strategy . The type–token distinction identifies physical objects that are tokens of

504-463: Is that it is not clear exactly what it is to have causal power. For a more detailed exploration of the abstract–concrete distinction, see the relevant Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article. Recently , there has been some philosophical interest in the development of a third category of objects known as the quasi-abstract. Quasi-abstract objects have drawn particular attention in the area of social ontology and documentality . Some argue that

540-636: Is widely regarded both for great sophistication of argument and for his assimilation of many and diverse subjects in pursuit of a synoptic vision . Sellars was perhaps the first philosopher to synthesize elements of American pragmatism with elements of British and American analytic philosophy and Austrian and German logical positivism . His work also reflects a sustained engagement with the German tradition of transcendental idealism , most obviously in his book Science and Metaphysics: Kantian Variations . Sellars coined certain now-common idioms in philosophy, such as

576-464: The fallible set of constitutive principles underlying knowledge, otherwise known as framework-relative a priori truths) and (2) claims revisable on the basis of observations formulated in terms of a system of concepts which remained fixed throughout. In his "Philosophy and the Scientific Image of Man" (1962), Sellars distinguishes between the "manifest image" and the "scientific image" of

612-420: The mind , or when conceptualized, denying the independent existence of universals, but accepting they have a fundamentum in re . Complications which arise include the implications of language use and the complexity of relating language to ontology . A universal may have instances, known as its particulars . For example, the type dog (or doghood ) is a universal, as are the property red (or redness ) and

648-538: The referents of general terms, such as the abstract , nonphysical, non-mental entities to which words such as "sameness", "circularity", and "beauty" refer. Particulars are the referents of proper names, such as "Phaedo," or of definite descriptions that identify single objects, such as the phrase, "that person over there". Other metaphysical theories may use the terminology of universals to describe physical entities. Plato's examples of what we might today call universals included mathematical and geometrical ideas such as

684-480: The "space of reasons". This idiom refers to two things. It: Note: (2) corresponds in part to the distinction Sellars makes between the manifest image and the scientific image. Sellars's most famous work is "Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind" (1956). In it, he criticizes the view that knowledge of what we perceive can be independent of the conceptual processes which result in perception. He named this " The Myth of

720-463: The Given ," attributing it to sense-data theories of knowledge. The work targets several theories at once, especially C. I. Lewis ' Kantian pragmatism and Rudolf Carnap 's positivism. He draws out "The Myth of Jones," to defend the possibility of a strict behaviorist world-view. The parable explains how thoughts, intelligent action, and even subjective inner experience can be attributed to people within

756-524: The defining subject matter of metaphysics or philosophical inquiry more broadly. To the extent that philosophy is independent of empirical research, and to the extent that empirical questions do not inform questions about abstracta, philosophy would seem especially suited to answering these latter questions. In modern philosophy , the distinction between abstract and concrete was explored by Immanuel Kant and G. W. F. Hegel . Gottlob Frege said that abstract objects, such as propositions, were members of

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792-602: The full spectrum of contemporary English-speaking philosophy, from neopragmatism ( Richard Rorty ) to eliminative materialism ( Paul Churchland ) to rationalism ( Laurence BonJour ). Sellars's philosophical heirs also include Ruth Millikan , Daniel Dennett , Héctor-Neri Castañeda , Bruce Aune , Jay Rosenberg , Johanna Seibt , Matthew Burstein , Ray Brassier , Andrew Chrucky , Jeffrey Sicha , Pedro Amaral, Thomas Vinci , Willem A. de Vries , David Rosenthal , Ken Wilber and Michael Williams . Sellars's work has been drawn upon in feminist standpoint theory , for example in

828-447: The manifest image includes practical or moral claims, whereas the scientific image does not. There is conflict, e.g. where science tells us that apparently solid objects are mostly empty space. Sellars favors a synoptic vision, wherein the scientific image takes ultimate precedence in cases of conflict, at least with respect to empirical descriptions and explanations. In "Meaning as Functional Classification" (1974) Sellars elaborated upon

864-488: The medieval philosophers Roscelin of Compiègne and William of Ockham and contemporary philosophers W. V. O. Quine , Wilfred Sellars , D. C. Williams , and Keith Campbell . The ness-ity-hood principle is used mainly by English-speaking philosophers to generate convenient, concise names for universals or properties . According to the Ness-Ity-Hood Principle, a name for any universal may be formed by taking

900-527: The most important ontological dispute about abstract objects has been the problem of universals . In epistemology , abstract objects are considered problematic for empiricism . If abstracta lack causal powers and spatial location, how do we know about them? It is hard to say how they can affect our sensory experiences, and yet we seem to agree on a wide range of claims about them. Some, such as Ernst Mally , Edward Zalta and arguably, Plato in his Theory of Forms , have held that abstract objects constitute

936-406: The name of the predicate and adding the suffix "ness", "ity", or "hood". For example, the universal that is distinctive of left-handers may be formed by taking the predicate "left-handed" and adding "ness", which yields the name "left-handedness". The principle is most helpful in cases where there is not an established or standard name of the universal in ordinary English usage: What is the name of

972-485: The over-adherence to the platonist duality of the concrete and the abstract has led to a large category of social objects having been overlooked or rejected as nonexistent because they exhibit characteristics that the traditional duality between concrete and abstract regards as incompatible. Specifically, the ability to have temporal location, but not spatial location, and have causal agency (if only by acting through representatives). These characteristics are exhibited by

1008-745: The physical versus the mental realm (or the mental-and-physical realm versus neither). Another view is that it is the distinction between contingent existence versus necessary existence; however, philosophers differ on which type of existence here defines abstractness, as opposed to concreteness. Despite this diversity of views, there is broad agreement concerning most objects as to whether they are abstract or concrete, such that most interpretations agree, for example, that rocks are concrete objects while numbers are abstract objects. Abstract objects are most commonly used in philosophy , particularly metaphysics, and semantics . They are sometimes called abstracta in contrast to concreta . The term abstract object

1044-413: The relation betweenness (or being between ). Any particular dog, red thing, or object that is between other things is not a universal, however, but is an instance of a universal. That is, a universal type ( doghood ), property ( redness ), or relation ( betweenness ) inheres in a particular object (a specific dog, red thing, or object between other things). Platonic realism holds universals to be

1080-567: The thesis that universals are multiply-exemplifiable entities. Examples include by D. M. Armstrong , Nicholas Wolterstorff, Reinhardt Grossmann, Michael Loux. Nominalists hold that universals are not real mind-independent entities but either merely concepts (sometimes called "conceptualism") or merely names. Nominalists typically argue that properties are abstract particulars (like tropes) rather than universals. JP Moreland distinguishes between "extreme" and "moderate" nominalism. Examples of nominalists include Buddhist logicians and apoha theorists,

1116-616: The two most profound and important philosophers of their generation. Sellars's goal of a synoptic philosophy that unites the everyday and scientific views of reality is the foundation and archetype of what is sometimes called the Pittsburgh School , whose members include Brandom, John McDowell , and John Haugeland . Especially Brandom introduced a Hegelian variety of the Pittsburgh School, often called analytic Hegelianism . Other philosophers strongly influenced by Sellars span

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1152-525: The universal distinctive of chairs? "Chair" in English is used not only as a subject (as in "The chair is broken"), but also as a predicate (as in "That is a chair"). So to generate a name for the universal distinctive of chairs, take the predicate "chair" and add "ness", which yields "chairness". Abstract (philosophy) In philosophy and the arts , a fundamental distinction is between things that are abstract and things that are concrete . While there

1188-476: The world. The manifest image includes intentions, thoughts, and appearances. Sellars allows that the manifest image may be refined through 'correlational induction', but he rules out appeal to imperceptible entities. The scientific image describes the world in terms of the theoretical physical sciences. It includes notions such as causality and theories about particles and forces. The two images sometimes complement one another, and sometimes conflict. For example,

1224-468: Was a Rhodes Scholar , obtaining his highest earned degree, an MA, in 1940. During World War II, he served in military intelligence. He then taught at the University of Iowa (1938–1946), the University of Minnesota (1947–1958), Yale University (1958–1963), and from 1963 until his death, at the University of Pittsburgh . He served as president of the Metaphysical Society of America in 1977. He

1260-431: Was a founder of the journal Philosophical Studies . Sellars is well known as a critic of foundationalist epistemology —the " Myth of the Given " as he called it. However, his philosophical works are more generally directed toward the ultimate goal of reconciling intuitive ways of describing the world (both those of common sense and traditional philosophy) with a thoroughly naturalist, scientific account of reality. He

1296-585: Was an American philosopher and prominent developer of critical realism , who "revolutionized both the content and the method of philosophy in the United States". His father was the Canadian-American philosopher Roy Wood Sellars , a leading American philosophical naturalist in the first half of the twentieth-century. Wilfrid was educated at the University of Michigan (BA, 1933), the University at Buffalo , and Oriel College, Oxford (1934–1937), where he

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