By tempting us to define our own reality, nominalism can throw a whole culture out of whack.

A more than nominal problem

Karl D. Stephan

Realism is more than just being practical; it means realizing that there is more to the world than we can possibly understand or control, and the proper attitude toward nature is one of humility.  

• Unless you are aware of this historical controversy, as a typical 21st-century person you probably think and act as a nominalist most of the time.  
• For example, if you agree with the words of the 1992 U. S. Supreme Court decision in Planned Parenthood vs. Caseythat “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life,” you are a nominalist, because defining is what a nominalist does. 
•  First comes the name, then come the items to be grouped under that name.  
• But the namer is always in charge, and things can be arbitrarily regrouped by the namer to suit one’s convenience.  
• As the philosopher Richard Weaver has pointed out, an important consequence of nominalism is that “if words no longer correspond to objective realities, it seems no great wrong to take liberties with words.”  
• So, for example, the genocide of Jews by Nazi Germany in World War II is euphemized to “the final solution.”

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