Peikoff - Concept-Formation - Definition As The Final Step In Concept-Formation

Question 1

The final step in concept-formation is …

Answer 1

Definition.

Question 2

Definition is essential to every concept EXCEPT …

Answer 2

1. Axiomatic concepts.

2. Concepts denoting sensations.

Question 3

The perceptual level of consciousness is automatically related to reality.

A sense perception is a direct awareness of a concrete existent.

A concept, however, is an integration that rests on a process of …

Answer 3

ABSTRACTION.

Question 4

Such a mental state is not automatically related to concretes, as is evident from the many obvious cases of …

Answer 4

FLOATING ABSTRACTIONS.

Question 5

Floating abstractions is AR’s term for concepts …

Answer 5

Detached from existents.

Concepts that a person takes FROM other men w/o knowing what specific units the concepts denote.

Question 6

A floating abstraction is NOT an integration of factual data.

It is a …

Answer 6

Memorized linguistic custom representing in the person’s mind a hash made of random concretes, habits, and feelings that blend imperceptibly into other hashes which are the content of other, similarly floating abstractions.

==> The “concepts” of such a mind are not cognitive devices.

==> They are parrotlike imitations of language backed in essence by patches of fog.

Question 7

If a concept is to be a device of cognition, it must be …

Answer 7

TIED TO REALITY.

==> It must denote units one has methodically isolated from all others.

Question 8

This isolation is, in AR’s words, the basic function of a definition:

Answer 8

“To distinguish a concept from all other concepts and thus to keep its units differentiated from all other existents.”