concept

thumb|right|alt=Diagram|A representation of the concept of a tree. The four upper images of trees can be roughly quantified into an overall generalization of the idea of a tree, pictured in the lower image. A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together

AI overview

A concept is an abstract idea that helps us organize and understand the world by grouping similar things together—like how we use the general idea of "tree" to recognize many different individual trees. Concepts matter because they're fundamental to how we think, learn, and communicate, which is why scientists studying the mind, language, and logic all focus on understanding how concepts work.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: Generalization process using trees.svg

Show 5 more facts

Commons category: Concepts
P7771: Lille
exact match: id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/vocab#Concept
P8168: Mother Shipton
P13411: August 7

Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~52 min read

Article

28 sections

Contents

Definition and central features
Roles
Types
Theories
Structure
Classical
Prototypes and exemplars
Theory theory, atomism, and pluralism
Ontology
As mental entities
As abstract objects
Others
Formation and learning
Learning mechanisms and situations
Children, animals, and artificial intelligence
Ideasthesia
In various fields
Psychology
Philosophy
Linguistics
Others
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
Further reading
External links

In contemporary philosophy, three understandings of a concept prevail: mental representations, such that a concept is an entity that exists in the mind (a mental object) abilities peculiar to cognitive agents (mental states) Fregean senses, abstract objects rather than a mental object or a mental state