nominalism
noun/ˈnɒmɪnəlɪzəm/
Frequency rank: #19,885 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)
Meaning
The philosophical view that universal or abstract concepts have no independent existence and are merely names or labels.
Example sentence
The philosopher defended nominalism by arguing that abstract concepts like 'justice' have no existence beyond the words we use for them.
Synonyms & related words
- particularism
- conventionalism
- conceptualism
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