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Single Idea 13435
[filed under theme 7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
]
Full Idea
Nor indeed can we rank and sort things, and consequently (which is the end of sorting) denominate them by their real essences, because we know them not.
Gist of Idea
We can't categorise things by their real essences, because these are unknown
Source
John Locke (Essay Conc Human Understanding (2nd Ed) [1694], 3.06.09)
Book Ref
Locke,John: 'Essay Concerning Human Understanding', ed/tr. Nidditch,P.H. [OUP 1979], p.444
A Reaction
Hence he says we categorise by the nominal essence, which is the ideas we have formed from our experiences of things. If we now have experts who have mastered some real essences, Locke is wrong, if we submit to the expert categories.
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[how the mind approaches putting things into categories]:
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13775
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We only succeed in cutting if we use appropriate tools, not if we approach it randomly
[Plato]
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16121
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I revere anyone who can discern a single thing that encompasses many things
[Plato]
|
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13435
|
We can't categorise things by their real essences, because these are unknown
[Locke]
|
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12535
|
If we discovered real essences, we would still categorise things by the external appearance
[Locke]
|
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6160
|
Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them?
[Rowlands on Kant]
|
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22649
|
Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose
[James]
|
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4048
|
Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories
[Goldman]
|
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8986
|
We should abandon classifying by pigeon-holes, and classify around paradigms
[Sainsbury]
|
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17376
|
We should aim for a classification which tells us as much as possible about the object
[Dupré]
|
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4913
|
Brain lesions can erase whole categories of perception, suggesting they are hard-wired
[Carter,R]
|
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15682
|
Even fairly simple animals make judgements based on categories
[Gelman]
|
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15691
|
Children accept real stable categories, with nonobvious potential that gives causal explanations
[Gelman]
|
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13131
|
The aim is that everything should belong in some ontological category or other
[Westerhoff]
|
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10494
|
Several words may label a category; one word can name several categories; some categories lack words
[Ellen]
|
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18573
|
For each category of objects (such as 'dog') an individual seems to have several concepts
[Machery]
|
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18602
|
A thing is classified if its features are likely to be generated by that category's causal laws
[Machery]
|
|
18604
|
Are quick and slow categorisation the same process, or quite different?
[Machery]
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