In
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with
''universals''. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to abstract entities, such as properties or numbers. There are, however, theories of ''abstract particulars'' or ''
tropes''. For example,
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
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 (for example a bicycle, an apple, and a particular woman's hair can all be red).
In the nominalist view, everything is particular. A universal at each moment in time, from the point of view of an observer, is a set of particulars.
Overview
Sybil Wolfram[ Sybil Wolfram, ''Philosophical Logic'', Routledge, London and New York, 1989, , page 55.] 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, 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).
The term particular is also used as a modern equivalent of the Aristotelian notion of individual substance. Used in this sense, particular can mean any concrete (individual) entity, irrespective of whether it is spatial and temporal or not.
See also
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Epistemological particularism
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Moral particularism
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Type–token distinction
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Particular affirmative/negative
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Rigid designator
References
Metaphysical properties
Physical objects
{{Solid objects
no:Partikulare