more on this theme | more from this thinker
Full Idea
Symbolic classification occurs when we use some things as a means of saying something about other things. ..They enhance the significance of some categories, so that categories imply rules and rules imply categories.
Gist of Idea
In symbolic classification, the categories are linked to rules
Source
Roy Ellen (Anthropological Studies of Classification [1996], p.35)
Book Ref
Ellen,Roy: 'The Categorical Impulse' [Bergahn Books 2008], p.35
A Reaction
I'm afraid the anthropologists seem to have more of interest to say about categories than philosophers do. Though maybe we couldn't do anthropology if philosophers had made us more self-conscious about categories. Teamwork!
| 10496 | Monothetic categories have fixed defining features, and polythetic categories do not [Ellen] |
| 10495 | Continuous experience sometimes needs imposition of boundaries to create categories [Ellen] |
| 10497 | In symbolic classification, the categories are linked to rules [Ellen] |
| 10498 | Classification is no longer held to be rooted in social institutions [Ellen] |