?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=On+Universals%3A+An+extensionalist+alternative+to+Quine's+resemblance+theory&rft.creator=Stemmer%2C+Nathan&rft.subject=Realism%2FAnti-realism&rft.subject=Logical+Positivism%2FLogical+Empiricism&rft.description=Abstract+The+notion+of+similarity+plays+a+central+role+in+Quine's+theory+of+Universals+and+it+is+with+the+help+of+this+notion+that+Quine+intends+to+define+the+concept+of+kind+which+also+plays+a+central+role+in+the+theory.+But+as+Quine+has+admitted%2C+his+attempts+to+define+kinds+in+terms+of+similarities+were+unsuccessful+and+it+is+mainly+because+of+this+shortcoming+that+Quine's+theory+has+been+ignored+by+several+philosophers.+In+the+present+paper%2C+I+propose+an+alternative+framework+that+accounts+for+the+phenomena+that+Quine+intends+to+explain+with+his+resemblance+theory.+The+framework+agrees+with+Quine's+austere+ontology%3B+in+particular%2C+it+does+not+assume+the+existence+of+properties+and+of+possible+worlds.+Moreover%2C+the+framework+is+extensionalist+since+the+abstract+entities+it+assumes+are+classes+and+these+can+be+individuated+extensionally.+Finally%2C+I+will+refute+some+of+the+objections+to+Quine's+approach+that+have+been+raised+by+Malcolm+and+Oliver+and+I+will+argue+that%2C+contrary+to+what+has+been+claimed%2C+Quine+is+able+to+specify+an+important+set+of+sparse+properties.+&rft.date=2005-12&rft.type=Other&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=doc&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fphilsci-archive.pitt.edu%2F2566%2F1%2Faaa_Universal_2.doc&rft.identifier=Stemmer%2C+Nathan+(2005)+On+Universals%3A+An+extensionalist+alternative+to+Quine's+resemblance+theory.+UNSPECIFIED.+(Unpublished)&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fphilsci-archive.pitt.edu%2F2566%2