Podcast Summary: Classical Stuff You Should Know

Episode 292: Nominalism and William of Ockham
Hosts: A.J. Hanenburg, Graeme Donaldson, Thomas Magbee
Date: December 30, 2025

Main Theme

This episode explores Nominalism, focusing on the medieval philosopher William of Ockham and his challenge to the classical philosophical tradition of universals established by Plato and Aristotle. The hosts discuss what nominalism is, contrast it with realism, examine its implications for language, knowledge, and reality, and reflect on its strengths and weaknesses. The conversation is rich with humor and tangents but zeroes in on how we categorize reality, the dangers of over-systematizing, and the pitfalls of radical nominalism in both philosophy and culture.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: Realism vs. Nominalism

• Historical background: The conversation begins with a quick review of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle, especially as they relate to universals and forms.

  • Plato: Believes abstract "forms" (e.g., “Chairness”) exist metaphysically (see [03:00]).
  • Aristotle: Agrees in a softer sense—forms exist within things, not in a separate realm ([03:54]).

  Graeme: "We know it is hummus, but because it is participating in the form of hummus, and that form of hummus is itself a real thing." ([03:03])

2. William of Ockham and the Birth of Nominalism

• Occam's challenge: Ockham denies the existence of universals. Only individual things exist. Universals (like “tree,” “justice,” or “triangle”) are merely names (nomina) that humans use to group similar individuals ([06:23]).

  Graeme: "All we have is just the individual things that we see. And then we as human beings, in order to try to make sense of the world, we give names to these things—nomina—which is why it’s called nominalism..." ([07:24])

• Occam’s Razor: The principle of not multiplying entities beyond necessity—if something can be explained with fewer assumptions, do so ([06:40]).

3. How Nominalism Works

• Individuality over universals: There are no real abstract categories—only individuals and the similarities we notice between them ([09:04]-[11:13]).

• Categories and patterns are inventions: We’re pattern-recognition machines, whose minds abstract and label similarities, but the categories themselves exist only in our minds.

  A.J.: "So is he contending directly with Plato’s forms?"
  Graeme: "Yes. He even goes after Aristotle because he, I think, would even question the idea of form, of tree." ([12:33]-[12:44])

• Language as invention: All terms and generalizations are convenient fictions, not realities in themselves ([11:24], [22:10]).

4. Problems and Paradoxes in Nominalism

• Communication issue: If nothing is universal, how can we use language meaningfully? Even “individual” is itself a category ([11:40]-[13:02], [29:09]-[31:50]).

• Frustration with logical consistency: A.J. becomes especially exasperated by Ockham's reliance on categories to deny categories.

  A.J.: "But even individuality, even thingness are categories. Those are universal things. To say that they are individual, they are alone is maybe not even to correctly come up against his connection with other things." ([31:30])

• God’s role in Ockham: Ockham grounds reality in God’s will—God creates each thing individually and has no concept of human universals. Without God, nominalism slides toward solipsism and subjectivity ([16:52]-[17:05], [22:22], [29:38]-[32:06]).

  Graeme: “God doesn’t have universal concepts of humanity. God has created each individual thing...and has individual relationships with each...” ([15:18])

5. Implications for Knowledge, Science, and Society

• Objectivity problem: Without universals, science and knowledge lack objective reference points. Laws of nature are only “so far, this is how things work” ([22:46]-[23:58]).

• Risk of error: Over-categorization (realism) can lead to abuses (e.g., slavery in Aristotle), but under-categorization (nominalism) can paralyze understanding and action ([18:29]-[21:54]).

• Power dynamics: If language and categories are only inventions, whoever controls language controls reality; this opens the door to manipulation and propaganda ([34:03]-[34:19], [42:10]).

  Graeme: "This ends up being the power game problem of nominalism, which is it just ends up being who controls the language, controls reality." ([34:03])

6. The Need for Balance: Schemas and Individuality

• Hemispheric thinking (Ian McGilchrist): The hosts introduce McGilchrist's "Master and His Emissary" as an analogy—the left brain categorizes, the right brain takes in the fullness of experience ([44:38]-[48:30]).

  • Healthy thinking finds a balance between the two: categorize and schematize, but stay open to uniqueness and mystery.

  Graeme: "There is something about the human experience where we can do wonderful things with schemas and formal structures, but we probably get ourselves into trouble if we completely block ourselves off to the individuality of things." ([48:58])

• Dialectic and Mythos: The classical approach relies on both rational categorization (dialectic) and the lived, storied engagement with reality (mythos) ([51:05]-[53:15]).

  A.J.: "A more healthy way to approach the reality of words is that we have dialectic and it does help us understand the world...but there are limits to words and each of those trees does have its own individual essence..." ([51:10])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Nominalism’s Central Tension:
  • A.J.: “Isn’t he burning the porch he’s sitting on? How can he talk about anything? He is making generalizations and talking about categories.” ([11:13])
• On Over-Categorization and its Dangers:
  • Graeme: “If you love your schema more than you actually love the thing that you are schematizing, you can now do violence to the thing.” ([39:20])
• On Modern Nominalism and Language:
  • Graeme: “Once I control language, I control perception. And if I control perception, then that’s the control that I have.” ([41:55])
• On Knowledge and Mystery:
  • A.J.: “Even if we dive into science, there are things about that oak tree we don’t understand...So there’s like a mythos to that tree.” ([51:56])

Important Timestamps by Segment

• Realism and the Forms: [03:00] – [06:23]
• Ockham’s Nominalism Explained: [06:23] – [15:18]
• Language and Experience: [15:18] – [22:39]
• Problems with Categories and Communication: [22:39] – [31:50]
• Nominalism’s Logical Challenges/Debate: [31:50] – [34:03]
• Language, Power, Objectivity: [34:03] – [43:14]
• Balancing Schema with Mystery (McGilchrist, Mythos): [44:38] – [53:15]
• Conclusions/Takeaways: [53:15] – [57:44]

Tone and Style

The tone is convivial, occasionally snarky and playfully combative, with A.J. often voicing exasperation at nominalism’s paradoxes and Graeme providing detailed philosophical context. Thomas interjects with clarifying questions and occasional humor, keeping the discussion grounded.

Useful for New Listeners

This episode is accessible for listeners unfamiliar with philosophical jargon, as each concept is carefully broken down and illustrated with concrete examples and analogies. The hosts’ conversational style, with real frustration and amusement, makes complex arguments engaging and memorable.