nominalism
noun
(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.
nominalist
-
a word derived from
nominalism.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His responses aren’t nonsensical; they’re nominalist, which is to say that David, like certain Anglo-American philosophers, can’t or won’t accept the reality of abstract numbers.
From New York Times ● May 26, 2020
As must the band Merchandise, whose name – one might think – is a nominalist satire of commodification by the music industry.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2013
Neither the nominalist nor the mathematical usages are particularly common, and we cannot show any direct influence from either of them on seventeenth-century usages.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The nominalist and realist dispute brought again into the arena the relations between thought and speech, and we find Duns Scotus occupied with the problem in his De modis significandi seu grammatica speculativa.
From Aesthetic as Science of Expression and General Linguistic by Benedetto Croce
His statement of this position oscillates markedly, inclining sometimes towards the nominalist, sometimes towards the realist statement, using the arguments of the one against the other.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 "Columbus" to "Condottiere" by Various
