The source of concepts
  • MonfortS26
    256
    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.
    MonfortS26 Options
  • A Christian Philosophy
    1.1k
    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.
    A Christian Philosophy Options
  • TimeLine
    2.7k
    ↪MonfortS26

    Are you alluding to the theory of Forms?

    We don't create the concept of suffering, we are just intelligently evolved enough to understand it. — MonfortS26
    Are you saying that there is no such thing as suffering?
    TimeLine Options
  • Frederick KOH
    240
    ↪MonfortS26


    What about "dog"? Or "lifeform"?
    Frederick KOH Options
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