SUBTRATUM VERSUS CUMULUS
ALTERNATIVE ONTOLOGIES FOR PARTICULAR OBJECTS
Keywords:
Particular, Object, Subtratum, BundleAbstract
There have been two main conceptions concerning the nature of particular objects. Some have conceived particular objects with a substratum that instantiates properties, either universal or particular –i. e. tropes. Others have conceived particular objects as bundles of properties, either universal or particular. This work presents the main lines of the contemporary debate betwee n all these different alternatives. There have been some surprising features in that debate. All main positions have gained in sophistication and have been able to address traditional objections. Besides some very serious problems still haunting theories of bundles of universals, there does not seem to be decisive reasons either for or against trope bundle theories or substratum theories. There are, nonetheless, interesting recent developments in the tradition of both conceptions that suggest a deeper theoretical unification.
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