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Question What is a concept? How are they formed? Is there such a thing as an objectively correct way of conceptualizing something?

Accepted:
September 19, 2006

Comments

Basically, concepts are the components of our thoughts, which enable us to think about objects and properties in the world. Most philosophers agree that two concepts F and G are distinct if (and only if) one could believe (desire, hope, etc) that a is F without also believing that a is G, even if everything that is (or even could be) F is also G. (This is Frege's 'criterion of cognitive significance'.) Concepts are also the sorts of things that can be misapplied: I can think that a is F even though it isn't.

Many (most?) philosophers also think that concepts don't just involve representing things in the world, but also involve at least some connections with other concepts: there are at least some inferences you should be prepared to make if you believe that this is a saxophone, say; although there might not be any single determinate set of inferences you would need to accept.

Some philosophers think of concepts as abstract entities, perhaps like word meanings; these concepts combine, on analogy with sentences, to form whole thoughts. On this view, different people can take various attitudes toward the very same thought. Other philosophers (including me) think of concepts as psychological abilities, which can be exercised in combination to form thoughts; on this view, people have the same thought if they think about the world in a relevantly similar way.

If concepts are abstract entities, then they aren't really formed (or perhaps, each concept was formed once, the first time someone represented the world as being that way). If concepts are psychological abilities, then they're formed in much the same way other abilities, like riding a bike, are: by putting together and altering familiar concepts, by observing and imitating other people's application of the concept (which usually means the way they use the corresponding word(s)), by practicing applying the concept to objects and noticing when things don't work out as you expected, etc.

I don't think there is any one objectively correct way of conceptualizing things. Rather, different ways of conceptualizing something can be more or less useful for different purposes; one purpose, but only one, is capturing or reflecting the objective structure of the world. For this purpose, the concept chair is not very useful, because chairs don't form a highly natural, objective kind. But the concept chair is quite useful for other purposes, like creating a comfortable environment.

Question What is a concept? How are they formed? Is there such a thing as an objectively correct way of conceptualizing something? Accepted:September 19, 2006

Question What is a concept? How are they formed? Is there such a thing as an objectively correct way of conceptualizing something?

Accepted:
September 19, 2006