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Single Idea 11139

[filed under theme 18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / g. Conceptual atomism ]

Full Idea

According to conceptual atomism, lexical concepts have no semantic structure, and the content of a concept isn't determined by its relation to other concepts but by its relations to the world.

Gist of Idea

Maybe concepts have no structure, and determined by relations to the world, not to other concepts

Source

E Margolis/S Laurence (Concepts [2009], 2.4)

Book Ref

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.10


A Reaction

[They cite Fodor 1998 and Millikan 2000] I like the sound of that, because I take the creation of concepts to be (in the first instance) a response to the world, not a response to other concepts.


The 23 ideas from E Margolis/S Laurence

Concepts are either representations, or abilities, or Fregean senses [Margolis/Laurence]
Language of thought has subject/predicate form and includes logical devices [Margolis/Laurence]
A computer may have propositional attitudes without representations [Margolis/Laurence]
Do mental representations just lead to a vicious regress of explanations [Margolis/Laurence]
Maybe the concept CAT is just the ability to discriminate and infer about cats [Margolis/Laurence]
The abilities view cannot explain the productivity of thought, or mental processes [Margolis/Laurence]
Classically, concepts give necessary and sufficient conditions for falling under them [Margolis/Laurence]
The classical theory explains acquisition, categorization and reference [Margolis/Laurence]
Typicality challenges the classical view; we see better fruit-prototypes in apples than in plums [Margolis/Laurence]
It may be that our concepts (such as 'knowledge') have no definitional structure [Margolis/Laurence]
People don't just categorise by apparent similarities [Margolis/Laurence]
Many complex concepts obviously have no prototype [Margolis/Laurence]
Prototype theory categorises by computing the number of shared constituents [Margolis/Laurence]
Complex concepts have emergent properties not in the ingredient prototypes [Margolis/Laurence]
The prototype theory is probabilistic, picking something out if it has sufficient of the properties [Margolis/Laurence]
The theory theory of concepts says they are parts of theories, defined by their roles [Margolis/Laurence]
The theory theory is holistic, so how can people have identical concepts? [Margolis/Laurence]
Maybe concepts have no structure, and determined by relations to the world, not to other concepts [Margolis/Laurence]
Concept-structure explains typicality, categories, development, reference and composition [Margolis/Laurence]
Modern empiricism tends to emphasise psychological connections, not semantic relations [Margolis/Laurence]
Body-type seems to affect a mind's cognition and conceptual scheme [Margolis/Laurence]
People can formulate new concepts which are only named later [Margolis/Laurence]
Naturalistic philosophers oppose analysis, preferring explanation to a priori intuition [Margolis/Laurence]