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Single Idea 18577

[from 'Doing Without Concepts' by Edouard Machery, in 18. Thought / D. Concepts / 5. Concepts and Language / a. Concepts and language ]

Full Idea

If a prototype of grandmothers represents them as grey-haired old women, and a definition of grandmothers represents them as being necessarily the mother of a parent ....we may fail to recognise that 'grandmother' represents two distinct concepts.

Gist of Idea

The word 'grandmother' may be two concepts, with a prototype and a definition

Source

Edouard Machery (Doing Without Concepts [2009], 3.3.4)

Book Reference

Machery,Edouard: 'Doing Without Concepts' [OUP 2009], p.74


A Reaction

He is referring to two distinct theories about what a concept is. He argues that both theories apply, so words do indeed represent several different concepts. Nice example.