Later Medieval Metaphysics: Ontology, Language, and Logic

5. Avicenna Latinus on the Ontology of Types and Tokens

This chapter gives us some important background to later medieval discussions by exploring the type/token distinction in Avicenna (980-1037), who was incredibly influential on such thinkers as Aquinas and Duns Scotus. It explains how Avicenna seeks to find a middle position between monism and idealism. Monism, as understood here, is the view that there is no fundamental distinction between (e.g.) any two humans. Idealism, on the other hand, is the view that one's being human is ultimately mind-dependent. As it argues, Avicenna escapes both monism and idealism by holding that universality is an accident: humanity is not in itself a universal, though it can function that way in the correct circumstances.