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I’ve got a question that I’m hoping someone can pull the threads of in both my understanding and my line of thinking. Please understand that I’m an infant in philosophy.

Essentially, I want to understand how under an “in re” realism metaphysic a seemingly new idea (or concept) could come into existence. Perhaps I’m thinking of idea incorrectly, but I’m thinking under this form of realism if there is such a thing as an idea that has a definable ontology, then it in some way would need to be instantiated. However how does an idea find its first instantiation?

The impetus for this for me is in thinking of nominalism. If immanent realism is true then how could Ockham “instantiate” it without first encountering an instantiation of it.

I hope this makes sense, I wanted to be brief and I’m hoping that you will be gracious in my ignorance. My goal is not to argue whether the metaphysic is wrong, which it might be, but I’m instead thinking within the metaphysical system and assessing its coherence.

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    are you groovy?
    – andrós
    Commented Jul 21 at 23:43
  • 1
    @andrós why would groovy create another account? just to ask this question?
    – How why e
    Commented Jul 22 at 0:28
  • Who is groovy and in what am I embodying this account? Hopefully it’s not bad
    – PTOCVR
    Commented Jul 22 at 0:30
  • Indeed if immanent realism is true most likely in the sense of "ante re", nominalists like Ockham cannot “instantiate” it from "in re" without already first encountering a token instantiation of it from "ante re"...
    – Double Knot
    Commented Jul 22 at 3:46

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The question examines the nature of ideas, their instantiation and relation towards realism and nominalism. Realism states that universals exist whether we think about them or not. According to Immanent Realism, universals can be found only in particular objects which they instantiate. The rise of fresh thoughts arises from the mode of their being as well as instantiation. Nominalism holds that concepts are not instantiated independently but that they are reflections of our categories for particular instances. If it is already existing, how can an idea come into being? Possible answers may necessitate a reconsideration of what “newness” means or how ideas are embodied in reality.

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