Single Idea 10556

[catalogued under 18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 7. Abstracta by Equivalence]

Full Idea

(In creating the concept of direction..) We carve up the content in a way different from the original way, and this yields us a new concept. ...It is a matter of drawing boundary lines that were not previously given.

Gist of Idea

We create new abstract concepts by carving up the content in a different way

Source

Gottlob Frege (Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) [1884], §64)

Book Reference

Frege,Gottlob: 'The Foundations of Arithmetic (Austin)', ed/tr. Austin,J.L. [Blackwell 1980], p.75


A Reaction

[second half in §88] 'Recarving' is now the useful shorthand for Frege's way of creating abstract concepts (rather than the old psychological way of ignoring some features of an object).