exemplarism

Exemplarism is a theological doctrine stating that divine ideas serve as the basis for finite realities and our ability to know them. In philosophy, particularly within Platonic realism, the concept suggests that things possess properties by imperfectly imitating perfect forms of those properties. For instance, many red objects resemble the ideal form of Red.12

Aristotle, however, proposed that properties are "immanent" within the objects themselves, rather than existing in a separate realm. This view suggests properties exist within space and time and do not exist independently of the objects that exemplify them. Contemporary theories continue to debate the nature and existence of universals, which are abstract properties or qualities that can be shared by multiple individuals.2