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Single Idea 17984

[filed under theme 18. Thought / D. Concepts / 4. Structure of Concepts / e. Concepts from exemplars ]

Full Idea

The exemplar accounts of conceptual combination are demonstrably wrong, because the meaning of a phrase has to be composed from the meaning of its parts (plus broader knowledge), and it cannot be composed as a function of exemplars.

Gist of Idea

Conceptual combination must be compositional, and can't be built up from exemplars

Source

Gregory L. Murphy (The Big Book of Concepts [2004], Ch.13)

Book Ref

Murphy,Gregory L.: 'The Big Book of Concepts' [MIT 2004], p.487

A Reaction

This sounds quite persuasive, and I begin to see that my favoured essentialism fits the prototype view of concepts best, though this mustn't be interpreted too crudely. We change our prototypes with experience. 'Bird' is a tricky case.

The 24 ideas from 'The Big Book of Concepts'

17969 The classical definitional approach cannot distinguish typical and atypical category members [Murphy]
17970 Classical concepts follow classical logic, but concepts in real life don't work that way [Murphy]
17971 Classical concepts are transitive hierarchies, but actual categories may be intransitive [Murphy]
17972 The classical core is meant to be the real concept, but actually seems unimportant [Murphy]
17973 The theoretical and practical definitions for the classical view are very hard to find [Murphy]
17974 The most popular theories of concepts are based on prototypes or exemplars [Murphy]
17977 The exemplar view of concepts says 'dogs' is the set of dogs I remember [Murphy]
17975 There is no 'ideal' bird or dog, and prototypes give no information about variability [Murphy]
17976 Prototypes are unified representations of the entire category (rather than of members) [Murphy]
17978 We do not learn concepts in isolation, but as an integrated part of broader knowledge [Murphy]
18687 Concepts with familiar contents are easier to learn [Murphy]
18688 Some knowledge is involved in instant use of categories, other knowledge in explanations [Murphy]
18689 People categorise things consistent with their knowledge, even rejecting some good evidence [Murphy]
18691 The prototype theory uses observed features, but can't include their construction [Murphy]
18690 Induction is said to just compare properties of categories, but the type of property also matters [Murphy]
17980 The main theories of concepts are exemplar, prototype and knowledge [Murphy]
17979 Research shows perceptual discrimination is sharper at category boundaries [Murphy]
17981 Children using knowing and essentialist categories doesn't fit the exemplar view [Murphy]
17982 Exemplar theory struggles with hierarchical classification and with induction [Murphy]
17984 Conceptual combination must be compositional, and can't be built up from exemplars [Murphy]
17987 The concept of birds from exemplars must also be used in inductions about birds [Murphy]
17983 The prototype theory handles hierarchical categories and combinations of concepts well [Murphy]
17985 Prototypes theory of concepts is best, as a full description with weighted typical features [Murphy]
17986 Learning concepts is forming prototypes with a knowledge structure [Murphy]