Corinne Bloch-Mullins: Soups, Sparks and Contrast Classes: Stability and Dynamism in the Concept ‘Synapse’
I argue that scientific concepts are formed as ‘forward-looking’: their structure facilitates the later accommodation of newly discovered phenomena. Drawing on Andersen (2000, 2012), I propose that a family resemblance theory of concepts is able to account for their forward-looking nature. Namely, concepts that are formed on the basis of similarity relations, and which are embedded within a nested hierarchy of contrast sets, both facilitate and constrain the accommodation of new phenomena. Accordingly, concepts are taken as dynamic tools in ongoing investigative practice rather than static receptacles of representations. I illustrate my proposal with a discussion of the concept synapse.
I argue that scientific concepts are formed as ‘forward-looking’: their structure facilitates the later accommodation of newly discovered phenomena. Drawing on Andersen (2000, 2012), I propose that a family resemblance theory of concepts is able to account for their forward-looking nature. Namely, concepts that are formed on the basis of similarity relations, and which are embedded within a nested hierarchy of contrast sets, both facilitate and constrain the accommodation of new phenomena. Accordingly, concepts are taken as dynamic tools in ongoing investigative practice rather than static receptacles of representations. I illustrate my proposal with a discussion of the concept synapse.