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Single Idea 22649
[filed under theme 7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
]
Full Idea
Every way of classifying a thing is but a way of handling it for some particular purpose. Conceptions, 'kinds', are teleological instruments.
Gist of Idea
Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose
Source
William James (The Sentiment of Rationality [1882], p.24)
Book Ref
James,William: 'Selected Writings of William James', ed/tr. Bird,Graham [Everyman 1995], p.24
A Reaction
Could there not be ways of classifying which suit all of our purposes? If there were a naturally correct way to classifying things, then any pragmatist would probably welcome that. (I don't say there is such a way).
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
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We can't categorise things by their real essences, because these are unknown
[Locke]
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12535
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If we discovered real essences, we would still categorise things by the external appearance
[Locke]
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6160
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Does Kant say the mind imposes categories, or that it restricts us to them?
[Rowlands on Kant]
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22649
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Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose
[James]
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4048
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Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories
[Goldman]
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8986
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We should abandon classifying by pigeon-holes, and classify around paradigms
[Sainsbury]
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17376
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We should aim for a classification which tells us as much as possible about the object
[Dupré]
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4913
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Brain lesions can erase whole categories of perception, suggesting they are hard-wired
[Carter,R]
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15682
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Even fairly simple animals make judgements based on categories
[Gelman]
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15691
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Children accept real stable categories, with nonobvious potential that gives causal explanations
[Gelman]
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13131
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The aim is that everything should belong in some ontological category or other
[Westerhoff]
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10494
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Several words may label a category; one word can name several categories; some categories lack words
[Ellen]
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18573
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For each category of objects (such as 'dog') an individual seems to have several concepts
[Machery]
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18602
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A thing is classified if its features are likely to be generated by that category's causal laws
[Machery]
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18604
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Are quick and slow categorisation the same process, or quite different?
[Machery]
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