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In philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
, particulars are concrete entitles existing in space and time as opposed to abstraction
Abstraction

Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose....
s. There are, however, theories of abstract particulars
Abstract particulars

Abstract particulars are metaphysics entities which are both abstract objects and particulars. Individual numbers are often classified as abstract particulars because they are neither concrete objects nor universals - they are particular things which do not themselves occur in spacetime....
 or tropes
Trope (philosophy)

The term "'trope'" is both a term which denotes figurative and metaphorical language and one which has been used in various technical senses. It derives from Greek language lang|el|...
. For example, Socrates
Socrates

Socrates was a Classical Greece Philosophy. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known only through the classical accounts of his students....
 is a particular (there's only one Socrates-the-teacher-of-Plato and one cannot make copies of him, e.g., by cloning him, without introducing new, distinct particulars). Redness, by contrast, is not a particular, because it is abstract and multiply-instantiated (my bicycle, this apple, and that woman's hair are all red).

Sybil Wolfram writes
Particulars include only individuals of a certain kind: as a first approximation individuals with a definite place in space and time, such as persons and material objects or events, or which must be identified through such individuals, like smiles or thoughts.
Some terms are used by philosophers with a rough-and-ready idea of their meaning.






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In philosophy
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
, particulars are concrete entitles existing in space and time as opposed to abstraction
Abstraction

Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose....
s. There are, however, theories of abstract particulars
Abstract particulars

Abstract particulars are metaphysics entities which are both abstract objects and particulars. Individual numbers are often classified as abstract particulars because they are neither concrete objects nor universals - they are particular things which do not themselves occur in spacetime....
 or tropes
Trope (philosophy)

The term "'trope'" is both a term which denotes figurative and metaphorical language and one which has been used in various technical senses. It derives from Greek language lang|el|...
. For example, Socrates
Socrates

Socrates was a Classical Greece Philosophy. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known only through the classical accounts of his students....
 is a particular (there's only one Socrates-the-teacher-of-Plato and one cannot make copies of him, e.g., by cloning him, without introducing new, distinct particulars). Redness, by contrast, is not a particular, because it is abstract and multiply-instantiated (my bicycle, this apple, and that woman's hair are all red).

Sybil Wolfram writes
Particulars include only individuals of a certain kind: as a first approximation individuals with a definite place in space and time, such as persons and material objects or events, or which must be identified through such individuals, like smiles or thoughts.
Some terms are used by philosophers with a rough-and-ready idea of their meaning. This can occur if there is lack of agreement about the best definition of the term. In formulating a solution to the problem of universals
Problem of universals

The problem of universals is an ancient problem in metaphysics about whether Universal exist. Universals are general or abstract qualities, characteristics, properties, kinds or relations, such as being male/female, solid/liquid/gas or a certain colour, that can be predicated of individuals or particulars or that individuals or particulars...
, the term 'particular' can be used to describe the particular instance of redness of a certain apple as opposed to the 'universal' 'redness' (being abstract
Abstraction

Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose....
). See also type-token distinction
Type-token distinction

The type-token distinction is between a concept and particular instances of that concept. For example, the bicycle in your garage is a token of the type "bicycle."; the bicycle-token is a "particular" located in time and space but the type-bicycle type is not....


Related articles

  • Epistemological particularism
    Epistemological particularism

    Epistemological particularism is the belief that one can know something without knowing how one knows that thing. By this understanding, one's knowledge is justified before one knows how such belief could be justified....
  • Moral particularism
    Moral particularism

    Moral particularism is the view that there are no moral principles and that moral judgement can be found only as one decides particular cases, either real or imagined....