Abstract

Questions about concepts bring into play all the cognitive science disciplines. For many centuries, concepts belonged to philosophy; but more recently, these original caretakers have shared responsibility for this domain with cognitive and developmental psychology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, anthropology, and neuroscience. Each of these fields has offered insights into these building blocks of thought, and each has contributed a unique perspective on fundamental questions about the nature of minds. However, the integrative approach of cognitive science holds the promise of providing new vantage points from a range of disciplines on this core issue.