nominalism

American  

[nom-uh-nl-iz-uhm] / ˈnɒm ə nlˌɪz əm /

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.

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nominalism British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of nominalism

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

Example Sentences

At the U.N., he rejected a “declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences.”

From The New Yorker • Sep. 30, 2015

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.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2015

With him were associated the schoolmen who debated the question of realism versus nominalism.

From The Age of the Reformation by Smith, Preserved

The excesses and failures of idealist theories of knowledge have always given rise in history to the opposite theory of sensualist nominalism, according to which our ideas are simply transformed sensations.

From Outlines of a Philosophy of Religion based on Psychology and History by Sabatier, Auguste

When the practical and the theoretical became divided, and still more when thought and being were separated by nominalism, philosophy broke loose from theology and knowledge from faith.

From History of Education by Seeley, Levi