Universal vs Sortal - What's the difference?
universal | sortal |
Of or pertaining to the universe.
Common to all members of a group or class.
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Common to all society; world-wide
Cosmic; unlimited; vast; infinite
Useful for many purposes, e.g., universal wrench .
(philosophy) A characteristic or property that particular things have in common.
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* {{quote-book, year=1970, title=Speech acts, author=John R. Searle
, passage=We might also distinguish those expressions which are used to refer to individuals or particulars from those which are used to refer to what philosophers have called universals : e.g., to distinguish such expressions as "Everest" and "this chair" from "the number three", "the color red" and "drunkenness".
(philosophy) Of or pertaining to a sort
* {{quote-book, 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, section=, chapter=Chapter III: Of General Terms
, passage=But, it being evident that things are ranked under names into sorts or species, only as they agree to certain abstract ideas, to which we have annexed those names, the essence of each genus, or sort, comes to be nothing but that abstract idea which the general, or sortal (if I may have leave so to call it from sort, as I do general from genus), name stands for.}}
(philosophy) Having the character of a
* {{quote-journal, 2008, date=January 8, John E. Sarnecki, Sortals for Dummies, Erkenntnis, url=, doi=10.1007/s10670-007-9094-6, volume=69, issue=2, pages=
, passage=The possession of sortal concepts is a prerequisite for philosophers like Wiggins or Lowe in determining the nature and extent of our referential capacities. }}
(philosophy) A type of universal that defines a particular sort of object
* {{quote-book, 1974, , Subject and Predicate in Logic and Grammar, isbn=0416821901, page=135, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=qX8OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA135
, passage=And central to this notion is the distinction, among semantic types of g -words, between sortals on the one hand and non-sortal general-character-specifiers on the other}}
In philosophy terms the difference between universal and sortal
is that universal is a characteristic or property that particular things have in common while sortal is a type of universal that defines a particular sort of object.universal
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- She achieved universal fame.
Derived terms
* universalise, universalize * universal quantifierAntonyms
* nonuniversalSee also
* (wikipedia "universal") * general * globalExternal links
* *Noun
(en noun)citation
See also
* particularExternal links
* *The Medieval Problem of Universals- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ----
sortal
English
Adjective
(-)Noun
(en noun)Derived terms
* sortalist * sortalism * sortalize * nonsortalSee also
*Sortalsin the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy