IngentaConnect A Psychologically Plausible Logical Model of Conceptualization

Author: Kim H-G.¹

Source: Minds and Machines, Volume 7, Number 2, May 1997 , pp. 249-267(19)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

This paper discusses how we understand and use a concept or the meaning of a general term to identify the objects falling under the term. There are two distinct approaches to research on the problems of concepts and meaning the psychological approach and the formal (or logical) approach. My major concern is to consider the possibility of reconciling these two different approaches, and for this I propose to build a psychologically plausible formal system of conceptualization. That is, I will develop a theory-based account of concepts and propose an explanation of how an agent activates a perspective (which consists of theories) in response to a situation in which reasoning using a concept is called for. Theories are represented as sets of facts and rules, both strict and defeasible. Each theory is organized in a coherent perspective which stands for an agent's mental state or an agent's model of another agent's perspective. Perspectives are organized into hierarchies and the theory for a concept in one perspective may defeat the theory for the same concept in another perspective. Which perspective is superior is context-dependent.

Keywords: concept; defeasible; knowledge representation; logic; meaning; mental model; perspective; psychology; theory

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Philosophy, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, U.S.A. (email: hgkim@uga.cc.uga.edu)

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