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Single Idea 17706

[filed under theme 18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / c. Classical concepts ]

Full Idea

In the 'classical theory' a concept includes in it those concepts that define it. ...In the 'theory theory' view the content of a concept is determined by its relationship to other concepts.

Gist of Idea

The essence of a concept is either its definition or its conceptual relations?

Source

Edwin D. Mares (A Priori [2011], 03.10)

Book Ref

Mares,Edwin: 'A Priori' [Acumen 2011], p.49


A Reaction

Neither of these seem to give an intrinsic account of a concept, or any account of how the whole business gets off the ground.


The 13 ideas from 'A Priori'

The most popular view is that coherent beliefs explain one another [Mares]
Possible worlds semantics has a nice compositional account of modal statements [Mares]
Unstructured propositions are sets of possible worlds; structured ones have components [Mares]
Operationalism defines concepts by our ways of measuring them [Mares]
Light in straight lines is contingent a priori; stipulated as straight, because they happen to be so [Mares]
Empiricists say rationalists mistake imaginative powers for modal insights [Mares]
The essence of a concept is either its definition or its conceptual relations? [Mares]
Maybe space has points, but processes always need regions with a size [Mares]
Aristotelian justification uses concepts abstracted from experience [Mares]
After 1903, Husserl avoids metaphysical commitments [Mares]
Aristotelians dislike the idea of a priori judgements from pure reason [Mares]
The truth of the axioms doesn't matter for pure mathematics, but it does for applied [Mares]
Mathematics is relations between properties we abstract from experience [Mares]