The source of concepts

MonfortS26 March 21, 2017 at 11:08 2225 views 3 comments

When we talk about concepts such as love, hate, suffering, war, as being exclusively human concepts I think it is a mistake. The way I see it, the concepts that we allude to when we use our language to describe something, are abstract entities that exist independently from the physical world as we know it. We don't create the concept of suffering, we are just intelligently evolved enough to understand it.

Comments (3)

A Christian Philosophy March 21, 2017 at 18:54 #61812 0 likes

Hello. I think you are correct that a lot of abstract words point to real concepts, such as love, justice, suffering etc. Maybe not all though? For example, if I call you a 'jerk', I don't think the word 'jerk' is pointing to any real attribute of yourself, and it merely gives my subjective opinion about you. Other words however, do point to real things, and the way to prove it is to find the 'form' or 'essence' of these concepts. This method goes all the way back to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

TimeLine March 22, 2017 at 00:45 #61888 0 likes

Reply to MonfortS26
Are you alluding to the theory of Forms?

Quoting MonfortS26

We don't create the concept of suffering, we are just intelligently evolved enough to understand it.

Are you saying that there is no such thing as suffering?

Frederick KOH March 22, 2017 at 06:48 #61920 0 likes

Reply to MonfortS26

What about "dog"? Or "lifeform"?