Nominalism in literary discourse

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Hugo Keiper (Karl-Franzens-Universit)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

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Schools and Theories (philosophy)

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Ancient Greece (Location)
Europe, Europe - Southwest (Location)
Europe, Europe - West (Location)

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Nominalism and realism are fundamental positions in (the) philosophy (of language), semiotics, and various other fields, relating to the nature, origin and ontological status of universals or general terms. Realists hold that universals have an existence independently of language or of thought, either as entities external to and preceding individual things (ante rem), such as Platonic ideas and the like, or else within things (in rebus), as argued by Aristotle and his followers. Nominalists, on the other hand, believe that universals do not exist independently of language or the mind and come into existence only after the experience of things. It seems that from the very beginnings of an awareness of such issues in ancient Greek philosophy, these incompatible positions – which

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4463 words

Citation: Keiper, Hugo. "Nominalism in literary discourse". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=13885, accessed 24 November 2024.]

Nominalism in literary discourse

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