Descripció

The ontological status of universals has been one of the major topics throughout the history of Western philosophy from Plato to Russell. In Vincent Ferrer's days, the kind of reality we grant to our general terms was not only logical issue: it impinged likewise philosophy and theology. In the Question concerning the unity of the universal, written in Lleida between 1370-72, Vincent Ferrer set out his own solution to the problem. The argumentation, concise and subtle as it is, shows that Vincent Ferrer was very well acquainted with the philosophical discussions of the fourteenth century. His views, presented originally in Latin, were translated into Hebrew by the middle of the fifteenth century.