..Universals,the properties common to many individual things,
must be considered as distinct from individuals.
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Thus,a white horse is not a horse,
for universal "horse" cannot be specified by color.
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A hard and a white stone must be two entities,
for hardness is perceptible to touch,
while whiteness is perceptible only to vision.
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Names refer to universals ;
thus,to confuse name is to confuse the natures of things,
and such confusion is a cause of social disorder.
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Since universals are known only through particulars,
which consist of universals,
everything in the universe is really a universal,
and yet nothing in the universe is really a universe as such.
Only particulars change.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gongsun_Long
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