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Thinking with Concepts (Wilson, 1963)

John Wilson

JLJ - This book kind of ends on p.60, where we are now in a classroom and have exercises to perform looking at the 'analysis of concepts' as performed by other people. If the reader has not fallen asleep by now, it most definitely is time for some serious zzzs.

Wilson's high level attempt is to reach out to sixth form (roughly equivalent to High school) kids in an attempt to get them thinking about, essentially, thinking with concepts. Failing somewhat in my mind to adequately describe what he is referring to, he finally punts and says that you simply must learn by doing, and then we look at how others analyze concepts. Fine, it is your book.

Wilson distills his ideas down to an 11-point analysis technique on p.23-38 which deserves your serious attention and makes a convenient reference point, and in fact saves the text from becoming obscure the the point of bafflement.

vii a single, coherent technique of thought which he can apply for himself over a wide field... such a technique exists... I have called this technique 'the analysis of concepts'... It provides one with a specialised and appropriate method which one can be taught to use in answering many of the more important and interesting questions which can be asked.

ix Conceptual analysis gives framework and purposiveness to thinking that might otherwise meander indefinitely and purposelessly among the vast marshes of intellect and culture.

p.5 it makes a big difference how we decide to use our concepts: our decisions can be wise or unwise.

p.10 in questions of concept we are not concerned with the meaning of a word. Words do not have only one meaning

p.14 Questions of concept seem queer, because it is not clear how we should set about answering such questions.

p.17 One of the most worrying things that can afflict people when they start to use these techniques is the feeling of being hopelessly lost.

p.21 People often think that the analysis of concepts is a difficult game to recognise and play. The truth is, in my view, that it is difficult to recognise, but easy to play

p.23-38 First, there are some general considerations which are nearly always of use to us, and which we should remember to apply whenever we are faced with any question which might seem to involve conceptual analysis:

1. Isolating questions of concept: We must begin by isolating the questions of concept from other questions...
2. 'Right answers': Closely connected with this is the point, already made above, that questions of concept often do not have any single, clear-cut solution...
3. Model cases: One of the best ways to start... is to pick a model case: that is, an instance which we are absolutely sure is an instance of the concept...
4. Contrary cases: We can do the same thing by an opposite method, taking cases of which we can say 'Well, whatever so-and-so is, that certainly isn't an instance of it'...
5. Related cases: It is not often that one can analyse a concept without also considering other concepts which are related to it, similar to it, or in some way importantly connected with it.
6. Borderline cases: It is also helpful to take precisely those cases where we are not sure, and see that we would say about them... The point of all these cases is to elucidate the nature of the concept by continually facing ourselves with different cases which lie on the borderline of the concept... By seeing what makes them odd or queer, we come to see why the true cases are not odd or queer, and hence what makes them true cases - what the central criteria of the concept really are.
7. Invented cases: Sometimes it is necessary to invent cases which are in practice quite outside our ordinary experience, simply because our ordinary experience does not provide us with enough different instances to clarify the concept...
8. Social context: ...questions involving general concepts... are usually asked in everyday life, under the pressure of particular circumstances. The nature of these circumstances is very important for understanding concepts...
9. Underlying anxiety: ...Conceptual or philosophical questions often arise because of some underlying anxiety...
10. Practical results: ...conceptual questions... sometimes we can only make a guess at the point and meaning: and one of the ways in which we can make our guesses intelligent rather than wild is to see what the practical results, in everyday life, would be if we answered 'Yes' or 'No' to the question.
11. Results in language: ... we have to look at the 'results in language' when choosing meanings for words or delimiting areas for concepts: we have to pick the most useful criteria for the concept...

p.38 In practice, the wisest course is to begin by applying the techniques in order.

p.48 In the analysis of concepts there is no 'complete answer', but only a number of logical sketches of greater or less merit.

p.56 one can have a concept without having a mental image or picture of anything.

[JLJ - It is better in my mind to define a concept as a tool or intermediary used for general-purpose understanding - a construction or classification used for the purpose of shedding some light on a difficult to understand matter. The concept might by itself be meaningless, but becomes meaningful when used to guide efforts at understanding.]

p.60 One of the best ways of getting practice in the analysis of concepts is to see how concepts are used or abused by other people