Book contents
- A Philosophical History of the Concept
- A Philosophical History of the Concept
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1Concepts in Classical Greece
- 2Concepts in Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy
- 3Concepts in Late Antiquity
- 4Concepts in Early Chinese Philosophy
- 5Buddhist Theory of Concepts
- 6Concepts in Brahmanical Philosophy in Classical India
- 7Concepts in Islamic Philosophy
- 8Concepts in the Latin Medieval Tradition
- 9Concepts and Ideas in Suárez, Descartes and Beyond
- 10Concepts in British Empiricism
- 11The Leibnizean Alternative
- 12Kant on the Epigenesis of (Empirical) Concepts
- 13The Concept in German Idealism
- 14Concept, Value and World
- 15Concepts in the School of Brentano, Husserl and Early Phenomenology
- 16Two Concepts of Concept in Early Analytic Philosophy
- 17Concepts in Pragmatism
- 18Concepts, Meaning and Use
- 19Concepts in Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Gadamer
- 20Poststructuralist Approaches to the Concept
- 21Carnap, Quine, Putnam and Burge on Concepts
- 22Concepts and Conceptual Engineering
- Index
- References
Introduction
A Philosophical History of the Concept
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 January 2026
Book contents
- A Philosophical History of the Concept
- A Philosophical History of the Concept
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1Concepts in Classical Greece
- 2Concepts in Epicurean and Stoic Philosophy
- 3Concepts in Late Antiquity
- 4Concepts in Early Chinese Philosophy
- 5Buddhist Theory of Concepts
- 6Concepts in Brahmanical Philosophy in Classical India
- 7Concepts in Islamic Philosophy
- 8Concepts in the Latin Medieval Tradition
- 9Concepts and Ideas in Suárez, Descartes and Beyond
- 10Concepts in British Empiricism
- 11The Leibnizean Alternative
- 12Kant on the Epigenesis of (Empirical) Concepts
- 13The Concept in German Idealism
- 14Concept, Value and World
- 15Concepts in the School of Brentano, Husserl and Early Phenomenology
- 16Two Concepts of Concept in Early Analytic Philosophy
- 17Concepts in Pragmatism
- 18Concepts, Meaning and Use
- 19Concepts in Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Gadamer
- 20Poststructuralist Approaches to the Concept
- 21Carnap, Quine, Putnam and Burge on Concepts
- 22Concepts and Conceptual Engineering
- Index
- References
Summary
Concepts play a central role in Western philosophy and its history. Several central philosophical subdisciplines – including logic, epistemology and philosophy of mind – focus on concepts as their subject matter and have developed sophisticated theories of concepts as components of thought. Moreover, at least since the early modern period, many Western philosophers have defended constructivist accounts of reality, according to which concepts (at least partially) constitute reality. In so doing, they tend to conceive of concepts not only as elements of thought, but also as foundational elements of reality. Furthermore, many Western philosophers take philosophy to be essentially concerned with concepts, by arguing for instance that the very task of philosophy is to engage in ‘conceptual analysis’ (in the analytic tradition) or in the ‘production of concepts’ (in continental philosophy, notably according to Gilles Deleuze).
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- A Philosophical History of the Concept , pp. 1 - 15Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
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