Moderate realism


Moderate realism is a position in the debate on the metaphysics of universals which holds that there is no realm in which universals exist, nor do they really exist within particulars as universals, but rather universals really exist within particulars as particularised, and multiplied.

Overview

Moderate realism is opposed to both extreme realism and nominalism. Nominalists deny the existence of universals altogether, even as particularised and multiplied within particulars.
Aristotle espoused a form of moderate realism as did Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, and Duns Scotus. Moderate realism is anti-realist about abstract objects, just like conceptualism is.
A more recent and influential version of immanent realism has been advanced by Willard Van Orman Quine, in works such as "Posits and Reality", and D. M. Armstrong, in works such as his Universals: An Opinionated Introduction.