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'''Hypostatic abstraction''' is a formal operation that takes an element of information, as expressed in a proposition <math>X ~\operatorname{is}~ Y,</math> and conceives its information to consist in the relation between that subject and another subject, as expressed in the proposition <math>X ~\operatorname{has}~ Y\!\operatorname{-ness}.</math>  The existence of the abstract subject <math>Y\!\operatorname{-ness}</math> consists solely in the truth of those propositions that contain the concrete predicate <math>Y.\!</math>  Hypostatic abstraction is known under many names, for example, ''hypostasis'', ''objectification'', ''reification'', and ''subjectal abstraction''.  The object of discussion or thought thus introduced is termed a ''[[hypostatic object]]''.

'''Hypostatic abstraction''' is a formal operation that takes an element of information, as expressed in a proposition <math>X ~\operatorname{is}~ Y,</math> and conceives its information to consist in the relation between that subject and another subject, as expressed in the proposition <math>X ~\operatorname{has}~ Y\!\operatorname{-ness}.</math>  The existence of the abstract subject <math>Y\!\operatorname{-ness}</math> consists solely in the truth of those propositions that contain the concrete predicate <math>Y.\!</math>  Hypostatic abstraction is known under many names, for example, ''hypostasis'', ''objectification'', ''reification'', and ''subjectal abstraction''.  The object of discussion or thought thus introduced is termed a ''[[hypostatic object]]''.

The above definition is adapted from the one given by introduced [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] (CP 4.235, "[[The Simplest Mathematics]]" (1902), in ''Collected Papers'', CP 4.227–323).

The above definition is adapted from the one given by introduced [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] (CP 4.235, "[[The Simplest Mathematics]]" (1902), in ''Collected Papers'', CP 4.227&ndash;323).

The way that Peirce describes it, the main thing about the formal operation of hypostatic abstraction, insofar as it can be observed to operate on formal linguistic expressions, is that it converts an adjective or some part of a predicate into an extra [[subject]], upping the ''arity'', also called the ''adicity'', of the main predicate in the process.

The way that Peirce describes it, the main thing about the formal operation of hypostatic abstraction, insofar as it can be observed to operate on formal linguistic expressions, is that it converts an adjective or some part of a predicate into an extra [[subject]], upping the ''arity'', also called the ''adicity'', of the main predicate in the process.