
Contents
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1. Introduction 1. Introduction
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2. The Nominalist Thesis 2. The Nominalist Thesis
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2.1 Are There … 2.1 Are There …
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2.2 … Abstract… 2.2 … Abstract…
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2.3 … Entities? 2.3 … Entities?
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3. How to be a Nominalist 3. How to be a Nominalist
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3.1 ‘Speak with the Vulgar …’ 3.1 ‘Speak with the Vulgar …’
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3.2 ‘… Think with the Learned’ 3.2 ‘… Think with the Learned’
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4. Arguments for Nominalism 4. Arguments for Nominalism
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4.1 Intelligibility, Physicalism, and Economy 4.1 Intelligibility, Physicalism, and Economy
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4.2 Causal Isolation 4.2 Causal Isolation
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5. Arguments against Nominalism 5. Arguments against Nominalism
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5.1 Indispensability 5.1 Indispensability
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5.2 The Context Principle 5.2 The Context Principle
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6. A Middle Way? 6. A Middle Way?
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References References
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1 Nominalism
Get accessZoltán Gendler Szabó, Cornell University
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Published:02 September 2009
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Abstract
This article begins with some clarification. Participants in contemporary debates surrounding nominalism tend to share certain assumptions about what ontological commitment amounts to, how the abstract and the concrete are to be distinguished, and what objects in general are. It is good to have these assumptions on the table. Then the article turns to a discussion of nominalist attitudes towards the apparent commitment ordinary thinking and speech carry to abstracta. This is followed by a survey of some of the most influential arguments for nominalism and against it. The article ends with a brief look at some oblique answers to the ontological question about abstracta. It makes no attempt to resolve the issues here, but an anti-nominalist inclination will no doubt show throughout.
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