universal

is a notion that what occurs in a particular case may also occur elsewhere. It has to do with heuristic and analytic procedures, not existences.

A universal. . . a notion that what occurs in a particular case may also occur elsewhere. 'universal' does not assert the existence of anything more than the possibility of asking a question... it has to do with heuristic and analytic procedures, not existences' (Bailey 2001:23) 'the witch-hunt was a process that brought him down, nearer to what his superiors thought was his proper place in the class structure' (Bailey 2001:24).

is a technical notion in metaphysics meant to capture the intuition that a variety of things can all have the same feature or property. A bowling ball, a basketball, and a figure drawn on a blackboard can be round. There are a huge number of properties. Each (shared) property is a universal a 'one over many instances' whiteness over the many white things, roundness over the many round things. . ..

Universal is a technical notion in metaphysics: a universal is that which is predicable of many. It is meant to capture the intuition that a variety of things can all have the same feature or property. For instance, a bowling bowl, a basketball, and a figure drawn on a blackboard can all be round. What many things have in common, or a feature they share, is a universal or, in Plato's terms, a Form. Of course there seems to be a huge number of properties. Many different things are white. Many different things are animals. Each (shared) property is a universal a 'one over many instances,' whiteness over the many white things, roundness over the many round things, and so on. Thus, for Plato, Roundness and Whiteness are Forms. (stanford encyclopedia 'plato's middle period')

is a way to explain what goes on in social and political systems.

That instant rejection of universes, and the accompanying disdain for the use of the comparative method, closes off the only way to explain what goes on in social systems, including political systems' (Bailey 2001:18).

is not connected to the particular, but both are external and accidental to one another, as are the collected particularities . . . . And each thing is interconnected and interdependent with each other thing, so that each thing will contribute to the essential or necessary connection [of facts].

Hegel goes on to give as grounds for empirical science's inadequacy to this demand the circumstances that 'the universal contained in it is . . . not in itself connected with the particular, but both are external and accidental to one another, and likewise the collected particularities are in themselves external and accidental to each other.'36 In order to give a demonstration that everything has the relevant sort of necessity, then, Hegel will seek to show that each thing is interconnected and interdependent with each other thing, so that each thing can be seen as contributing to a whole that they collectively constitute as its end... he will seek to demonstrate an 'essential or necessary connection [of facts].'37 (foster 'hegel's dialectical method 2006 : 139)

is such that if particulars are to have meaning, then there must be universals.

If particulars are to have meaning, there must be universals. (plato)

is such that, once reached, it ought to include within it the individuality with which we started: it should be a supreme Self which gives each self its identity.

The universal we reach ought to include within it the individuality with which we started: it should be a supreme Self which gives each self its identity.

is terms, similitudes, and humors received by man and nation and prevailing either by conquest or by the authority of genius.

The general, he defines as that which consist of terms, similitudes and humours, and are received by man nations. It prevails, either by conquest, such as caused the Roman language and wit to be established in all the countries wherein they sowed civilization by their victories... or, by the situation, authority and commanding genius of one people over another. Thus, the Greeks became teachers of the art of conversation to the ancients... and the French, of late, to the moderns.' (Sir Christopher Wren and His Times By James Elmes 159)

is the idea that there is some kind of property like squareness or blueness which is instantiated in a particular, for example blueness is instantiated in the sky or in the ocean, or squareness is instantiated in a box or a piece of paper.

there are a lot of different definitions of a universal depending on who you ask but generally to give you kind of a sense of it a universal is considered to be something which can be instantiated in a variety of things usually those things that the universal is instantiated in are considered particulars simply put a universal is like a property though that probably oversimplifies it squareness or blueness might be examples of universals a sky or an ocean can instantiate the universal blueness but that doesn't mean that they are the same as the universal blueness the universal is something separate from its instantiations and a piece of paper or a box can instantiate squareness as i said though our exact definition of what a universal is is going to vary depending on who you ask but this should give you a general sense of it.

universal, n.All

universal