Note 85 — Chapter IV · THE HIGHER FORMS OF ABSTRACTION. THEIR NATURE.

Thus Taine, who is usually regarded as a Nominalist, tells us that, “A general idea is a name, nothing more than a name, a name which signifies and comprehends a sequence of similar facts, or class of similar individuals, accompanied usually by the sensory but vague representation of some of these facts or individuals.” (The words italicised for emphasis are not so distinguished in the text.)