How Abstract Things Survive

Abstract

In the last chapter we saw that all words are names, and that what they name are material things. There are four kinds of things named. These are: material things, properties of material things, classes of material things and classes of classes of material things. The first we are entitled to call concrete things; the second may be concrete or abstract things, while the third and fourth are clearly abstract. I propose to call material things “concrete” and the various sorts of classes “abstract.” By “abstract things,” it should be noted, I do not mean to suggest the psychological process of abstraction but the things themselves. “Abstract things” are not mental constructs but genuine things. As such they are available for knowledge though not confined to knowledge, more like what Plato called the Forms. Accordingly, I shall use the terms “abstract things” and “Forms” interchangeably. Concrete things of course do not survive but are known to perish, some quickly, some with notable slowness, but all eventually. Abstract things, on the other hand, do survive; but the nature of their survival has always been something of a mystery. My problem is, how do abstract things survive?