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universal

In metaphysics, epistemology, and logic, a general category, such as a property or relation, considered as distinct from the particular things that instantiate or exemplify it. The problem of universals concerns the question of what sort of being should be ascribed to such categories (e.g., is there any such thing as redness apart from particular red things?). The debate over the status of universals stems from Plato's theory of forms. Whereas Plato held that forms (universals) exist independently of particulars, Aristotle argued that forms exist only in the particulars in which they are exemplified. See also realism.