The Origin of Concepts (Susan Carey)

Series: Mind & Psychology

The Origin of Concepts — Susan Carey

Susan Carey asks how children acquire concepts that go beyond their earliest representations.

She argues that infants begin with core systems for objects, number, and agency.

Some developmental changes introduce new representational systems rather than simply adding facts.

Quinian bootstrapping explains how children can construct concepts unavailable in their starting repertoire.

The book connects evidence from developmental psychology with philosophical questions about conceptual change.

Publication source

Explore: Mind & Psychology · Language & Linguistics

Related episodes: Evolutionary Psychology and Development (Palacios et al.) · Human Nature (Winnicott)