Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Defining Conceptual Boundaries

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Perception and Discovery

Part of the book series: Synthese Library ((SYLI,volume 389))

Abstract

A useful term cannot apply to everything. Some logical or conceptual boundary must appear somewhere. As we saw, the word “not” helps us to locate these boundaries; to know what is being denied is to have perceived half of what is being asserted.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    The index of Halliburton’s book cites this as the definition of “glycogen.”

  2. 2.

    “A calculus designed to represent electrical theory will be constructed so that its final formulae express propositions about observable flashes of light or pointer readings of a measuring instrument; like a zip-fastener, each side will be firmly attached at one end.” (1959, 51).

  3. 3.

    “In general, we mean by any concept nothing more than a set of operations, the concept is synonymous with the corresponding set of operations.” (1927, 5).

References

  • Braithwaite, R. B. 1959. Scientific explanation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bridgman, P. W. 1927. The logic of modern physics. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Euclid. 1956. The thirteen books of Euclid’s elements. Trans. Sir Thomas L. Heath. New York: Dover Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halliburton, William Dobinson. 1936. The essentials of chemical physiology for the use of students, 13th ed. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, Samuel. 1963. Johnson’s dictionary: a modern selection. Eds. E.L. McAdam and George Milne. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mach, Ernst. 1960. The science of mechanics. Trans. T.J. McCormack. LaSalle, Ill: Open Court Pub. Co.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    Matthew D. Lund

Authors
  1. Matthew D. Lund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    Matthew D. Lund

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Lund, M.D. (2018). Defining Conceptual Boundaries. In: Lund, M.D. (eds) Perception and Discovery. Synthese Library, vol 389. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69745-1_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation