Alternative Analyses

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Heather J. Gert, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: For quite some time now there has been a debate between those who insist that conceptual analysis is a matter of determining the conditions necessary and sufficient for falling under a concept, or belonging to a kind, and those who believe that if this is what conceptual analysis is, then conceptual analysis is futile. Perhaps the debate has become quieter in the last decade or so, but members of each side still seem to find it incredible that their position is not unanimously accepted by now. I would like to examine the possibility that there really is not as much disagreement here as has been supposed. To illustrate what I mean, in this paper I will consider three theories which have been proposed as alternatives to the Classical necessary and sufficient conditions account of analysis: Cluster Concepts, Paradigms, and Prototypes.

Additional Information

Publication
Southern Journal of Philosophy, Spring 1995, 31-37
Language: English
Date: 1995
Keywords
conceptual analysis, cluster concepts, paradigms, prototypes

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