Introduction

As I have discussed in this series, CRT is antiessentialist; it has no room for any essential natures. Why? If they were real, they would exist objectively, yet not be material, thus overriding CRT’s commitment to materialism. Also, an essence would be something natural and real beyond our constructs, which would thereby constrain our freedom to define our identities, i.e., our “true selves.”

On the other hand, if there were essences, then it seems that all humans actually would have an identical set of essential qualities present in each of them. Moreover, a moral virtue like justice would be identical essentially in just people. The moral principle that humans should be treated with dignity also should apply to all humans. These are examples of universals, one thing itself, and yet which can have many instances. And, when a human being exemplifies the virtue of justice, that human is a complex entity, being an individual human who also has the quality of justice.

However, without essences, there would not be any real, universal qualities. Instead, it seems those qualities would be particulars. This is a nominalist position, and since everything is particular on it, there are no complex entities; each and everything is simple – just one thing, and not the union of two or more things. Further, while we may call several similar traits by the same name or description (say, human, or justice), nonetheless those traits literally would be distinct because each one is particular. On this view, things are what they are in name only.

So, CRT is a nominalist view. What are some implications of that?

CRT and Nominalism

Let me being by probing the very assumptions of nominalism, to see if it can do the work that Crits think it can do for them and their theories. They are banking on it to support their many claims of injustice, inequality, and the domination by whites of minorities, to name a few. And, indeed, we can look into actual cases where such things have occurred. Yet, can nominalism sustain these charges?

Let’s focus on the core nominalist position, that everything is particular. So, despite how we may conceive of two or more things that seem similar, actually there do not exist any numerically identical qualities between any two things, whether cases of injustice or anything else. Plus, there are no complex entities; everything is simple (just one thing). So, to help illustrate that, let’s consider a person named Micah who is black, transgender, and courageous. By the way I have written out these descriptions, it might seem that there is Micah who has these qualities. If so, Micah would be a complex entity. But, on nominalism, Micah must be just one thing, so I will illustrate that by hyphens: Micah-a-courageous-black-transgender.

Notice that while we may conceive of Micah in these various ways, nonetheless there is just one “thing” here. Thus, all the “qualities” included in that description really do not exist; there is just the concrete object Micah-a-courageous-black-transgender. Moreover, pick any “quality”; it is identical to any other “quality” in the description, for in reality there is just one, simple thing, not a complex entity. So, for example, Micah’s being black ends up being identical to Micah’s being transgender or courageous. Furthermore, Micah’s being black is identical with the name Micah. If so, then we can eliminate all these other “qualities” and be left with just black. But that is a color that is not particularized. Instead, it seems to be an abstract, universal quality, which would be anathema to nominalism.

Alternatively, suppose we start with Micah’s being courageous. But, the same kinds of results happen; accordingly, there is no reason in principle why the other “qualities” cannot be eliminated without any loss in reality. At best we are left with an abstract object (one that is not particularized) that seems to be a universal, a result that undermines nominalism. At worst, there are no qualities whatsoever to any particular object.

In any of these cases, it seems nominalism cannot sustain in reality the thing or its qualities. But if that is the case, then it seems CRT’s core contentions cannot be sustained either, such as: there are real people who really are being oppressed by the white majority; racism is real, and there are real, systemic injustices; justice, dignity, and equality are good, whereas racism is wrong.

Indeed, even just taking nominalism literally as nameism, then all the qualities of CRT are just names (words) Crits have given to express their interpretations of actions in reality. But, based on nominalism, their interpretations are particular to them. If so, why should others accept their interpretations as the “gospel” truth? Literally, their meanings cannot be before others’ minds, for there are not even any interpretations – they too can be reduced away, just as we saw above.

There’s another reason why people literally cannot have these interpretations before their minds. It seems that ability presupposes what nominalism denies – that humans are not simple; instead, they are complex beings who can have different qualities present in them. Indeed, if not, how could someone be the same person throughout a reasoning process, who comes to change his or her mind from a more traditional view to that of CRT? Beforehand, on nominalism, that person could be characterized as that-traditionalist-person, but afterwards as a that-Crit-person. Yet, they are not identical, and so the person before that process occurred cannot be the same person as the one when it concluded.

Conclusion

So, applying nominalism to CRT, morals like justice, human dignity and equality, and racism’s wrongness are just what they are in name only, and names are particulars. Thus, we are not even talking about the same thing when two different groups discuss matters of justice. There is no essence to any of these morals, and so they (and people too) become nothing but the constructs of particular groups. It is no wonder, then, that with CRT’s strong influence in societal discourse, we are seeing more and more assertions of power to get what people want. After all, what else is left to turn to, if there are no essential, universal qualities (including meanings) that define what something is?

Ironically, though, while CRT advertises itself as the means by which people can be set free (liberated) from their oppression, actually it can do nothing of the sort. Based on its antiessentialism and nominalism, it leads us to think we can define reality, when in fact those two positions would undermine reality, including ourselves and our moral worth.