universals

Universals are abstract ideas or qualities that many different things share. For example, the concept of "redness" applies to all red objects, like apples, cars, or stop signs. They help us understand and categorize the world by recognizing common features across diverse things. Philosophers debate whether universals exist independently of our minds or only as ideas in our thinking. Essentially, universals are the common threads that connect various specific instances, enabling us to think about and communicate about the similarities between different objects or concepts.