Problem of Universals from Boethius to John of Salisbury

"The problem of universals is one of the main philosophical issues. In this book the author reconstructs the history of the problem considering a selection of medieval representative texts and authors. The source of medieval and post-medieval debate is identified in the Socratic-Platonic survey on the definition of concepts. In the Categories, Aristotle discusses important topics concerning the relationship that exists on the one hand between general terms and, on the other hand, between general and particular terms. The Categories also because of their particular disciplinary status, halfway between logic and metaphysics, leave a number of questions open. Among these questions a particularly intriguing one is Porphyry's riddle: are there genera and species? And, if there are such things, what are they like?"--