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Nominalism implies sensualism, and sensualism implies nominalism; with nominalism as the metaphysical component, and sensualism as the epistemic one.

On nominalism, universals are not real, they do not exist in reality. If there are no universals, only particulars, then there is nothing for man to do cognitively than to perceive these particulars. So all thought is sense perception. Therefore nominalism → sensualism.

On sensualism, man only has the faculty of sense perception. Of course, you do not directly grasp universals through sense perception, so man could never come to discover any real universals. This leaves concepts as being mere arbitrary names for groupings of particulars. Therefore sensualism → nominalism.

Since the time of Hobbes, empiricism has been almost universally conflated with nominalism-sensualism, leading to disastrous consequences.

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