On the Nature of Concepts: An Essay in Metaphysics
Dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo (
1997)
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Abstract
This dissertation proposes an original theory of concepts. Under this theory, concepts are not understood as independent entities, but as the activity of judging that something is the same as or different from something else. This judgment may be intentional or nonintentional. I consider theories of concepts that have been proposed throughout the history of philosophy, and I reject them. I further claim that nonconceptual awareness is impossible