Platonic Realism
Platonic realism holds universals to be the referents of general terms, such as the abstract, nonphysical, non-mental entities to which words like "sameness", "justice", and "beauty" refer. Particulars are the referents of proper names, like "Phaedo," or of definite descriptions that identify single objects, like the phrase, "that bed 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 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.
Read more about this topic: Universal (metaphysics)
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