Two Problems for Resemblance Nominalism

According to resemblance nominalism, properties depend on primitive resemblance relations among particulars, while there are neither universals nor tropes. Rodriguez-Pereyra 2002 contains a systematic formulation and defence of a version of resemblance nominalism according to which properties exist, conceived of as maximal classes of exactly resembling particulars. In this paper, I raise a couple of objections against Rodriguez-Pereyra’s version of resemblance nominalism. First, I argue that Rodriguez-Pereyra’s solution to the so-called “imperfect community difficulty” is untenable. Second, I argue that Rodriguez-Pereyra’s idea that sparse properties are bound to be lowest determinates, while determinable properties of any degree are to be treated as (infinite) disjunctions of determinates, is liable to undermine the whole approach.