What is universal? A redefinition

Carta S.

2025-01-01

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the notion of universality. It redefines it and explains that a universal feature does not need to be universally present. In fact, universality should be interpreted as a potentiality that is realized under certain conditions, and it should not be confused with the actual universal presence of a feature or a content. Under this perspective, the important notion of implicational universals is discussed, as it confirms the necessity to always approach things from a relational – entangled, co-evolutionary – perspective, and because it sheds light on the fact that, in accordance, for example, with Sahlin’s structure of conjuncture, the same phenomenon may seem local from one perspective and universal from another.