Can concepts be defined in terms of sets?

Marie Duží; Pavel Materna

doi:10.12775/LLP.2010.008

Authors

Marie Duží VŠB-Technical University Ostrava
Pavel Materna Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Prague

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/LLP.2010.008

Keywords

procedural semantics, Transparent Intensional Logic, concepts, structured meanings

Abstract

The goal of this paper is a philosophical explication and logical rectification of the notion of concept. We take into account only those contexts that are relevant from the logical point of view. It means that we are not interested in contexts characteristic of cognitive sciences, particularly of psychology, where concepts are conceived of as some kind of mental objects or representations. After a brief recapitulation of various theories of concept, in particular Frege’s and Church’s ones, we propose our own theory based on procedural semantics of Transparent Intensional Logic (TIL) and explicate concept in terms of the key notion of TIL, namely construction viewed as an abstract, algorithmically structured procedure.

Author Biography

Pavel Materna, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Prague

Institute of Philosophy

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