Single Idea 14603

[catalogued under 2. Reason / F. Fallacies / 1. Fallacy]

Full Idea

'Reification' occurs when a mere concept is mistaken for a thing. We seem generally prone to this sort of error.

Gist of Idea

'Reification' occurs if we mistake a concept for a thing

Source

Jonathan Schaffer (Causation and Laws of Nature [2008], 3.1)

Book Reference

'Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics', ed/tr. Sider/Hawthorne/Zimmerman [Blackwell 2008], p.89


A Reaction

Personally I think we should face up to the fact that this is the only way we can think about generalised or abstract entities, and stop thinking of it as an 'error'. We have evolved to think well about objects, so we translate everything that way.