as an epistemological concept. By and large, this view is certainly correct, but it has been intensely discussed whether it implies that form ´in itself´ is particular or universal.

The present study argues that this question is a ´category mistake´. A form is not a ´something in itself´ - it is a structure or principle of one or many ´things´. A structure is not a thing, and intension precedes extension - which could explain why Aristotle himself never explicitly defines form as particular o r universal. In his detailed argumentation he often attacks what he takes to be the Platonic position vehemently. But in a postscript to this study it is claimed that deep similarities connect the two essentialists, Plato and Aristotle - the Aristotelian view should be seen as an innovation within a Platonic frame.