determinablesdeterminates

Determinables and determinates are notions in metaphysics used to distinguish general properties from their specific instantiations. A determinable is a broad property that can be instantiated in many different ways; a determinate is a particular instantiation of that property. Every determinate is a determinate of one determinable, but a determinable may have many possible determinates.

For example, color is a determinable: red, blue, and green are determinates of color. Similarly, shape can be a determinable with determinates such as circle, square, and triangle. Size or height can function as determinables with determinates like tall, short, or specific measurements such as 5 cm and 10 cm, depending on the framework. The determinable thus provides a general family, while the determinates specify concrete qualities that an object possesses at a given time or in a given description.

Philosophically, the distinction helps explain how objects can bear many different attributes and how properties relate to their instances. The same object can have various determinates of different determinables simultaneously, such as color and shape, without collapsing into a single property. The view also raises questions about the ontological status of determinables: whether they are real properties or convenient linguistic fictions, and how they relate to grounding, modality, and change. Critics argue that determinables may reflect our language or conceptual schemes rather than independent entities.

The determinables–determinates framework remains a standard tool in discussions of property attribution, scientific classification, and formal semantics, helping to structure debates about how general properties give rise to particular attributes.