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Single Idea 9079

[filed under theme 15. Nature of Minds / C. Capacities of Minds / 3. Abstraction by mind ]

Full Idea

The voluntary power which the mind has, of attending to one part of what is present at any moment, and neglecting another part, enables us to be unaffected by anything in the idea which is not really common to the whole class.

Gist of Idea

We can focus our minds on what is common to a whole class, neglecting other aspects

Source

John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843], 4.2.1)

Book Ref

Mill,John Stuart: 'System of Logic (9th ed, 2 vols)' [Longmans, Green etc 1875], p.196

A Reaction

There is a question for empiricists of whether abstraction is a 'voluntary' power or a mechanical one. Associationism presents it as more mechanical. I would say, with Mill, that it is a least partly voluntary, and even rational.

The 26 ideas with the same theme [singling out properties and parts of reality for special attention]:

9092 Abstracting A from B generates truth, as long as the connection is not denied [Aquinas]
9101 Abstractive cognition knows universals abstracted from many singulars [William of Ockham]
9102 If an animal approached from a distance, we might abstract 'animal' from one instance [William of Ockham]
10499 We know by abstraction because we only understand composite things a part at a time [Arnauld,A/Nicole,P]
6711 The mind creates abstract ideas by considering qualities separated from their objects [Berkeley]
10581 I can only combine particulars in imagination; I can't create 'abstract' ideas [Berkeley]
9079 We can focus our minds on what is common to a whole class, neglecting other aspects [Mill]
20363 Leaves are unequal, but we form the concept 'leaf' by discarding their individual differences [Nietzsche]
9575 Husserl identifies a positive mental act of unification, and a negative mental act for differences [Husserl, by Frege]
9032 Before we can abstract from an instance of violet, we must first recognise it [Price,HH]
9035 If judgement of a characteristic is possible, that part of abstraction must be complete [Price,HH]
9034 There may be degrees of abstraction which allow recognition by signs, without full concepts [Price,HH]
9036 There is pre-verbal sign-based abstraction, as when ice actually looks cold [Price,HH]
9037 Intelligent behaviour, even in animals, has something abstract about it [Price,HH]
8775 A big flea is a small animal, so 'big' and 'small' cannot be acquired by abstraction [Geach]
8776 We cannot learn relations by abstraction, because their converse must be learned too [Geach]
15493 Memory requires abstraction, as reminders of what cannot be fully remembered [Martin,CB]
15450 Maybe abstraction is just mereological subtraction [Lewis]
18525 Mental abstraction does not make what is abstracted mind-dependent [Heil]
10203 We apprehend small, finite mathematical structures by abstraction from patterns [Shapiro]
8966 Properties are facets of objects, only discussable separately by an act of abstraction [Lowe]
16561 We can abstract by taking an exemplary case and ignoring the detail [Machamer/Darden/Craver]
10998 The mind abstracts ways things might be, which are nonetheless real [Read]
4460 Abstractions are formed by the mind when it concentrates on some, but not all, the features of a thing [Moreland]
8954 Geometrical circles cannot identify a circular paint patch, presumably because they lack something [Szabó]
19736 Neural networks can extract the car-ness of a car, or the chair-ness of a chair [New Sci.]