nominalism

[nom-uh-nl-iz-uhm]

noun

1. (in medieval philosophy) the doctrine that general or abstract words do not stand for objectively existing entities and that universals are no more than names assigned to them.

nominalism

/ ˈnɒmɪnəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. the philosophical theory that the variety of objects to which a single general word, such as dog, applies have nothing in common but the name Compare conceptualism realism

Other Word Forms

• nominalist noun
• nominalistic adjective
• nominalistically adverb
• nonnominalistic adjective
• unnominalistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nominalism¹

From the French word nominalisme, dating back to 1830–40. See nominal, -ism

Example Sentences

If trope nominalism is the correct metaphysics, there are no universals but only particulars that have typical or tropic properties.

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Duchamp established the nominalism of art and changed the question from “what is art?” to “is it interesting?”

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Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll in innocent lives, that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences.

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It is not worth while to follow out the errors which arose in the middle ages from nominalism.

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Yet what could nominalism do for theology, or for clerical schools?

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