Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-11-02

rising to the highest deductions and
CONGRATULATIONS of the human mind.
We will first consider briefly the for
nation OF the
CONCEPT OR NOTION.
The concept is formed 10y the pro-
ces>es Of abstraction. analysis, compar-
ison and generalization. The concept
may be defined As class knowledge.
Thus the concept apple includes all the
properties and attributes peculiar aud
common t. the class of objects included
in The term apple and no other. We
have in mind in this concept the pecul-
lar shape common 10 all apples. the pc
culiarities represented by the internal
cellular structure and the outside peel.
/ the imciness. tsstc and smell peculiar
to all apples, etc. But we cannot in
clude color; for apples differ in color.
We cannot include retinements Of taste
by which apples are distinguished from
each other, As sweetness or sOurness.
tlavOrs distinctive of variety, nor size;
for these are attributes which are not
common TO all apples. but attributes
distinguishing apples among them
selves. and we can include in the con-
cept apple only what will apply to
every apple to distinguish it from other
class objects. If we take the concept
red apple, we have one more property
included in the concept, bat we limit
the class, excluding all apples which
are not red. Again if we take the con-
cept sweet, red apple, we add another
property and again diminish our class.
We might thus 20 Ola till we enumerate
all the properties or attributes Of sin
Gle apple, the class growing smaller
and smaller till ii includes but one in
diyidual apple. The number of attri-
butes included in a concept is called its
content, while the size of itS class is It's
extent. Gong in the other direction
with our concept, we take fruit. and we
can enumerate fewer properties COM
mon 10 fruit than 10 apple: but the
size Of the class j., immensely increased
We take vegetable. and again we have
fewer attributes common. but the class
l. co-eXtensiye with the vegetable king
dom Of nature. Organic body has still
smaller content. but greater extent
Thus a law OF the concept l. derived.
that the content i inversely a. lis ex-
tent-aS the content increases the eX-
tent dImini,bes and vice versa. The
concept Of greatest extent and smallest
content j. being. OF this we can emu
merate but one attribute, being, exist
ence; bat its extent includes everything
which can be thought Of in material or
1,R.f ,4Fst D 4
dicated. a concept Of least extent and
greatest content would De a single
material, spiritual or mental object.
Now the process involved in the
formation of the concept i termed ab-
straction, but in reality 1t involves three
analysis: from objects we learn prop
critics and have the power 70 abstract
thcm-cOnsider them apart-frOm the
object. Hardness we learn from OBJ
jectS. but we may consider hardness
apart. in the mind, from any object
SO with sweetness rOundness. blgne,s
etc. But TO form the cCncepl after
We have learned the varions properties
OF objects, we compare these proper
ties: and on comparison we generaliZc
by asserting and grouping together
those attributes common 10 the class of
which we form the concept. Such are
briefly the processes Of thought in the
first or simplest operations and these. il
will be seen, are higher and more com
pick processes than are the
other mental processes before discussed.
Loot IA
grouping together properties common
TO class into one general notion or
concept. is 10 be distinguished from
generihcaton, which is simply the
placing OF concepts in their relations Of
order, genus and species. Thus we
place under the concept, organic
world, the concepts. vegetable king
dom and animal kingdom; under vege-
table kingdom we place phWnogamia
and cryptogamia Chat is. lowering
and woodworking plants; under ami
NAL kingdom, protozoans (frSt ami
Enthusiastically micrOscopic), cOelenter-
alta (animals with alimentary canal.
with outside skin and inside mem brane
but with no heart a center Of cir
CuldlpIN y sum J. tuuulplbd kdHIlIdl>
more highly organized that the PIE
ceding. in having a true nervous sys-
TEN and circulatory system, with or
without a heart, sometimes called a
water vascular system }, annulosa
(animals with ganglia of nervous CEN
tiers, circulatory system and riDged
structure of body, mollusca, (animals
Of shell fish kind, with more highly cen
tralized nervous system circulatory
system and breathing apparatu>), yer-
tebrata (animals with back bone, heart
breathing apparatus fully differentiated
or specialized, and a head enclosing the
chief nerve center or BRAIN. Each Of
these sub-kingdoms may be again di-
vided, including numerous concepts
under them of greater content and
smaller extent.
II will thus be seen that generaliza-
ton groups attributes together into a
concept, while generiication places
concepts i'm their rank or order Of CO.