Damiano Costa works mostly in metaphysics. He also has research interests in various areas in theoretical philosophy as well as in medieval philosophy. He is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Philosophy of Lugano, of which he is the deputy director and where he leads the MAP, i.e. the research master in metaphysics and mind at USI. He is currently running the 5 year SNF Starting Grant “Temporal Existence”.
Aristotelian universals, ground, and higher order metaphysics
What is the Aristotelian view of universals? I provide an overview of recent attempts to define it in modal, locative, and ground-theoretic terms and argue that none of them is satisfactory. I also provide a new definition in higher order terms. I then review a series of ground-theoretic arguments recently moved against the Aristotelian view and assess whether the switch to higher order metaphysics blocks them.