Swedish web site
Theory of concepts2011VT
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Course plan
No of Lectures
8 lectures.
Recommended for
All graduate students in SweCog.
The course was last given
The course has not been given before.
Goals
After finishing this couse students should:
• be familiar with classical and modern theories of concepts and concept
formation.
• be able to use these theories in critical discussion and argumentation on the
nature of concepts.
• be familiar with applications of concept theory
• be able to use conceptual analysis in theoretical and applied studies.
Prerequisites
The course can be taken by all Ph.D. students in SweCog and Ph.D. students in related areas.
Organization
2 days intensive course and a final 2 day seminar with presentation of assignments and course papers.
Contents
Among the topics discussed in the course will be:
- A historical introduction - The nature of concepts, different views: mental
representations, abilities, linguistic meanings or non-mental abstract essences
- More on the nature and function of concepts: the classical theory of
necessary and sufficient conditions and cognitivistic theories like prototype
theory, and the theory-theory of concepts.
- The empiricism nativism dispute: Locke vs Descartes, and Fodor vs Chomsky and
their followers in modern Cognitive Science. Evolution and children’s
development of concepts and language.
- Concepts and natural language: the priority between language and concepts;
Whorf/Wittgenstein about linguistic idealism, weaker forms of linguistic
relativism, and views giving priority to mental representations
- Exploring conceptual analysis through language
- Concepts and conceptual analysis: the traditional view of a priori reasoning,
the role of testing definitions or assumptions against intuitions provoked by
thought experiments, how to conceive of the role of linguistic intuitions, and
the usefulness of conceptual analysis whatever its nature turns out to be.
- Concepts and the brain
- Concepts, ontologies and the internet
Literature
Allwood, J. 1989. "Om begrepp - deras bestämning, analys och konstruktion",
(ms)
Allwood, J.1999. "Semantics as Meaning Determination with Semantic Epistemic
Operations" In Allwood, J. & Gärdenfors, P. (eds.) Cognitive Semantics.
Amsterdam: Benjamins. pp. 1-18.
Murphy, L.G. 2004 (first edition 2002) The Big Book of Concepts, MIT Press.
Laurence, S. and Margolis, E (eds). Concepts: Core Readings, 1999, MIT Press.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy about Concepts
Plus a a few more articles
Lecturers
Jens Allwood, Alexander Almér, Björn Haglund, Mikael Jensen, Elisabeth Ahlsén
Examiners
Jens Allwood, Alexander Almér, Mikael Jensen
Examination
Assignments and course paper
Credit
7,5 hp
Contact
Jens Allwood jens@ling.gu.se
Page responsible: Director of Graduate Studies
