Concepts and Theoretical Unification  PDF

ABSTRACT. In this commentary on E. Machery's Doing without Concepts, we argue that concepts are mental symbols that have both semantic structure and processing structure. This approach (1) allows for different disciplines to converge on a common subject matter; (2) it promotes theoretical unification; and (3) it accommodates the varied processes that preoccupy Machery. It also avoids problems that go with his eliminativism, including the explanation of how fundamentally different types of concepts can be co-referential. 

Margolis, E., & Laurence, S. (2010). Concepts and Theoretical Unification. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33:2/3, pp. 219-220. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X10000427

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