Joško Žanić: Seven Theses About Concepts
Dr. Joško Žanić fra Universitetet i Zadar, Kroatia, besøker instituttet denne måneden og holder en gjesteforelesning.
Hovedinnhold
Abstract
"In this talk I will present a brief overview of what I take to be the most promising general account of concepts and human conceptual structure. By "the most promising general account" I mean an account which is internally consistent, which is maximally in accordance with established empirical findings in cognitive science and with sound theoretical arguments, and which can therefore serve as a framework for further research on concepts. The theses constituting this framework are the following:
1. Concepts are mostly complex, not atomic.
2. Concepts are in most cases not structured by necessary and sufficient conditions, but by something like 'family resemblances'.
3. Conceptual structure exhibits some metaphorical structuring, but the extent and importance of this is limited.
4. Conceptual structure is mostly unconscious.
5. Conceptual structure is not under a strong influence of one's native language; on the other hand, linguistic meanings are encoded conceptually.
6. Most concepts are learned, but this is made possible by an innate conceptual endowment.
7. Conceptual structure is mostly universal (not individually or culturally variable)."
