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9330 | Generalization seems to be more fundamental to minds than spotting similarities [Lehrer] |
Full Idea: There is a level of generalization we share with other animals in the responses to objects that suggest that generalization is a more fundamental operation of the mind than the observation of similarities. | |
From: Keith Lehrer (Consciousness,Represn, and Knowledge [2006]) | |
A reaction: He derives this from Reid (1785) - Lehrer's hero - who argued against Hume that we couldn't spot similarities if we hadn't already generalized to produce the 'respect' of the similarity. Interesting. I think Reid must be right. |