Beckett’s Controversy of Universals

Abstract This article discusses Samuel Beckett’s interest in the philosophical concept of “universals,” which has recently been illuminated by the publication of his“Philosophy Notes” (2020). In a section entitled “The Controversy of Universals,” Beckett outlines the Middle Ages polemic between realism and nominalism, which affirm and reject the reality of universals respectively. The latter position is quite familiar to Beckett Studies due to the major discourse on Beckett’s interest in Fritz Mauthner and what scholars have called the philosopher’s “nominalistic view of language.” However, this discourse has led scholars to reduce Beckett’s interest in nominalism to no more than the rejection of universals and thereby to neglect his thoroughly evidenced interest in realism. By closely considering Beckett’s notes on both side of The Controversy of Universals, and his many references to them in Murphy , this article argues that he does not read these positions as implacably opposed to each other—but rather that he establishes a relationship between them, which is inclusive of fundamental tenets from both—including the realist affirmation of universals.