Resemblance and Universals

Abstract

Although the phenomenon of resemblance does not play the central role in the history of realism enjoyed by the phenomenon of predication, distinguished realists have contended that the analysis of resemblance provides us with the resources for constructing an argument for the existence of universal. In fact, we find a number of such arguments in the writings of realists. In this chapter, I want to examine three of them. The first argument I shall consider played an important role in the debate over universals in the early part of this century; the locus classicus for this argument is Chapter IX of Russell’s Problems of Philosophy.