Edu:Particular

Particular

Definitions

1. As a noun, “particular” has various applications, some of which lead to philosophical dispute. As a single entity of a class or kind, a particular has a unique path through space and time and unlike universals cannot be instantiated by other entities, however similar they are to the initial particular. [...] Particulars should be distinguished from individuals, for while all particulars are individuals, many individuals, instead of being particulars, are abstract and general. Philosophers have different opinions about the ontological status of particulars, depending on their account of universals.(Source: p.505, 'particular' in The Blackwell Dictionary of

Western Philosophy 2004)

D1 [ Masolo et al., 2003 ]

• • Entities which have no instances.

D2 [ Arp et al., 2015 ]

• • An individual (nonrepeatable) denizen of reality (an instance of a universal); all particulars stand in the relation of instantiates to some universal; each particular occupies a unique spatiotemporal location.

Synonymous with Individual and Instance