Beyond Elementary Math...
Philo: Hey Stew, welcome back. How’re your studies going?
Estudia: Great I think. I’ve really learned a lot, but I still have some questions. Like, just what is the difference between a concept like “chair” and one like “furniture” which includes chairs, tables and lots of other things?
Philo: That’s it. A “first-level” concept is one that you can develop directly from perceptual information. You can form higher level concepts by abstracting further. You take a bunch of concepts and abstract them into a wider concept which will involve more knowledge. For example, say the concept of a “solar system” which involves the integration of concepts like “sun”, “planet”, “moon”, “asteroid”, “comet”, etc. Or you could take a first-level concept into narrower concepts such as “tree” into “evergreens”, “deciduous”, “ginkgos”.
Estudia: So a higher level concept represents an advanced state of knowledge obviously?
Philo: Right, you have to do a lot of conceptualization before you can unify things into a larger concept. The concepts themselves, like “society” or “democracy” are things that you can’t point to so they aren’t available on a perceptual level. Even the concept of “family” is tough as there are all types of relationships that can constitute any given family. But, this process of abstracting on abstractions goes on and on to reach very high level concepts that are far removed from the perceptual level. But every concept can be understood in terms of measurement-omission and a lot more can be said about this. If you’re really interested, you ought to study the book titled, “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology” by Ayn Rand.
Estudia: Well, I just might do that, but I get the gist of what you are implying. The concept “family” involves all sizes and types of arrangements and when I use that concept I am omitting any particular count or measurement of size of arrangement. But, what about concepts like “idea” or “memory” or “friendship” and others that are just in our minds.
Philo: They are referred to as concepts of consciousness. Concepts such as “thought”, “imagination” and “dream” also fall into this category. These types of concepts have two fundamental attributes. One of these attributes is content.
Estudia: By content I assume you are talking about what is in our consciousness or at least what we are aware of.
Philo: Yes, something we are aware of, either directly or indirectly—something that is some state of existence which we are aware by introspection or extrospection. “Dream” is an introspective awareness. The content of a dream can vary widely from pleasurable to nightmarish, from a simple image to a vivid and complex scenario. All these possible contents would be included in the concept “dream”. Now, in addition to the attribute of content, all concepts of consciousness have a second attribute which is “action.”
Estudia: What does that mean?
Philo: By action we are talking what consciousness does with regard to the content. You would do something like think, or recall things, see images in your mind, or carry on imaginary conversations and so forth. For the concept “dream” you do the pictures, sounds and other sensations without actual stimulation of the senses.
Estudia: That’s something to think about. I can see that their all sorts of categories of concepts. Some of them are a combination of existential concepts and concepts of consciousness. Things like “love birds”, or “friends”, or “creative writer”. There I can see that you would be integrating things you can’t perceive directly but include high-level concepts like “value”, “affection”, “imagination” and lots of others.
Philo: Yes, those kinds of concepts are very important in philosophical discussions and I’m sure we will want to consider them more thoroughly as we meet them in our discussions. But, for now, you just need to understand that such abstractions from abstractions exist and wonder at the power of your reasoning faculties.
Estudia: Oh, I do! Believe me, and I am very impressed with the work of Ayn Rand. Later, alligator.
Estudia: Great I think. I’ve really learned a lot, but I still have some questions. Like, just what is the difference between a concept like “chair” and one like “furniture” which includes chairs, tables and lots of other things?
Philo: That’s it. A “first-level” concept is one that you can develop directly from perceptual information. You can form higher level concepts by abstracting further. You take a bunch of concepts and abstract them into a wider concept which will involve more knowledge. For example, say the concept of a “solar system” which involves the integration of concepts like “sun”, “planet”, “moon”, “asteroid”, “comet”, etc. Or you could take a first-level concept into narrower concepts such as “tree” into “evergreens”, “deciduous”, “ginkgos”.
Estudia: So a higher level concept represents an advanced state of knowledge obviously?
Philo: Right, you have to do a lot of conceptualization before you can unify things into a larger concept. The concepts themselves, like “society” or “democracy” are things that you can’t point to so they aren’t available on a perceptual level. Even the concept of “family” is tough as there are all types of relationships that can constitute any given family. But, this process of abstracting on abstractions goes on and on to reach very high level concepts that are far removed from the perceptual level. But every concept can be understood in terms of measurement-omission and a lot more can be said about this. If you’re really interested, you ought to study the book titled, “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology” by Ayn Rand.
Estudia: Well, I just might do that, but I get the gist of what you are implying. The concept “family” involves all sizes and types of arrangements and when I use that concept I am omitting any particular count or measurement of size of arrangement. But, what about concepts like “idea” or “memory” or “friendship” and others that are just in our minds.
Philo: They are referred to as concepts of consciousness. Concepts such as “thought”, “imagination” and “dream” also fall into this category. These types of concepts have two fundamental attributes. One of these attributes is content.
Estudia: By content I assume you are talking about what is in our consciousness or at least what we are aware of.
Philo: Yes, something we are aware of, either directly or indirectly—something that is some state of existence which we are aware by introspection or extrospection. “Dream” is an introspective awareness. The content of a dream can vary widely from pleasurable to nightmarish, from a simple image to a vivid and complex scenario. All these possible contents would be included in the concept “dream”. Now, in addition to the attribute of content, all concepts of consciousness have a second attribute which is “action.”
Estudia: What does that mean?
Philo: By action we are talking what consciousness does with regard to the content. You would do something like think, or recall things, see images in your mind, or carry on imaginary conversations and so forth. For the concept “dream” you do the pictures, sounds and other sensations without actual stimulation of the senses.
Estudia: That’s something to think about. I can see that their all sorts of categories of concepts. Some of them are a combination of existential concepts and concepts of consciousness. Things like “love birds”, or “friends”, or “creative writer”. There I can see that you would be integrating things you can’t perceive directly but include high-level concepts like “value”, “affection”, “imagination” and lots of others.
Philo: Yes, those kinds of concepts are very important in philosophical discussions and I’m sure we will want to consider them more thoroughly as we meet them in our discussions. But, for now, you just need to understand that such abstractions from abstractions exist and wonder at the power of your reasoning faculties.
Estudia: Oh, I do! Believe me, and I am very impressed with the work of Ayn Rand. Later, alligator.
posted by Rp | 9:54 PM
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