I recently did a 2nd podcast with Anthony Costello of the Kirkwood Center on this topic.
Category: Nominalism
Podcast on nominalism, part 1
In this Podcast The Kirkwood Center Team interviews Ronald Scott Smith, PhD USC, philosopher at Talbot School of Theology on the philosophical problem of Nominalism. Nominalism has been the default ontological view in the Western world for at least two hundred years, and it has had devastating consequences for western, liberal culture.
Article: “Propositions: Who Needs Them? Craig’s Nominalism Revisited”
This essay came out in Philosophia Christi 24:2 (2022). Here’s an abstract:
William Lane Craig has defended nominalist forms of “anti-Platonism” as normative for orthodox Christians. He believes Platonic abstract objects (AOs) undermine God’s uniqueness as the only being that exists a se. Yet, I will argue that his view actually depends upon the reality of AOs. Furthermore, I will draw upon insights from phenomenology. By paying close attention to what can be before our minds in conscious awareness, I will argue that, contrary to Craig, we can become aware of the reality of Platonic, ante rem universals, including propositions and properties.
I will develop my argument first by sketching Craig’s nominalist views and his important use of Carnap’s linguistic frameworks. In so doing, I will draw extensively upon his essay, “Propositional Truth – Who Needs It?” to sketch the importance of his neutralist theory of reference and his deflationary view of truth, and how those relate to truth as correspondence. Second, I will draw upon Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological method and apply it to examples of Craig’s concrete particulars. I will focus especially on Craig’s linguistic examples. My findings will serve as evidence against his nominalist anti-Platonism, and in favor of ante rem universals.
Interview about my new book, “Exposing the Roots of Constructivism”
I was interviewed this summer by Dr Sahar Joakim about my new book on nominalism: