An idea is NOT:
An idea is NOT:
An idea is "that which different things of the same kind have in common," and different
things of the same kind cannot share matter or have it in common.
An idea is NOT:
"Concept," or "conception" which literally means "something taken together" in Latin, is a synonym for "idea." See page 123. Getting an idea, for Socrates, is like getting pregnant.
An idea is NOT:
A nature is the essence of something regarded as the source of its activities. An essence is that which makes the thing what it is, and so is a synonym for idea. See page 69.
An idea is NOT:
"Essence," "that which makes the thing what it is," is a synonym for idea. See page 69.
An idea is NOT:
Ideas are sometimes called universals because of the fact that an idea is shared in many particulars, and "universal" comes from Latin words that mean "turn to" and "one." Particular things have an orientation to the idea or universal in which they share.