[Cross-posted from philosophymodsquad.wordpress.com.] (Following up on my earlier post on an argument for nominalism in the Elements of Law.) In chapter 2 of De Corpore Hobbes offers two further arguments for the view that names are the only universals. (1) The first involves the way in which common names denote. However a common name, as it is the name of …
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[Cross-posted from philosophymodsquadwordpress.com.] Hobbes was a nominalist, in that he believed that “there is nothing universal but names” (EL 5.6), so there are neither universal things nor universal ideas. But why did he believe this? In chapter 5 of the Elements of Law, having introduced names, Hobbes distinguishes between universal and singular names: singular names name …
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Stewart Duncan