Edu:Particular

Particular

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.(p.505, 'particular', in The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy 2004)

2. Entities which have no instances. ([ Masolo et al., 2003 ] )

3. [BFO2.0] 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. [ Arp et al., 2015 ]

Synonymous with Individual and Instance