Are actions in general (such as buying, walking, flying etc.) considered universals? Also are the properties of these actions (such as being-hard-ness, annoying, fast, efficient, etc. )considered universals too?
I've looked into this since it seems like it would come up at the intersection of process philosophy and realism. People have certainly proposed actions as universals, but it has really not garnered much attention from what I've seen.
Part of the problem is that the universal is called on to explain "what stays the same" across various instances but then a processual universal must in some way incorporate change within itself.
Reply to SEP lineolata I see universals as meaning only ONE kind of thing. There are different types of 'walking' but not different types of 'the number one'.
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Part of the problem is that the universal is called on to explain "what stays the same" across various instances but then a processual universal must in some way incorporate change within itself.
If I understand your question correctly, I suppose so sub specie aeternitatis (or from a 4-d pov) ...
If you cannot ask "what kind?" it is a universal.
Hmm. My first thought is that no, they are particulars but that the idea of any action is a universal. But good question.