- published: 17 Jun 2016
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The word concept is defined variously by different sources. Philosophers and others generally agree that concepts are formed from experience and other pre-existing mental content by abstraction and other operations in the brain.
John Locke's description of a general idea corresponds to a description of a concept. According to Locke, a general idea is created by abstracting, drawing away, or removing the uncommon characteristic or characteristics from several particular ideas. The remaining common characteristic is that which is similar to all of the different individuals. For example, the abstract general idea or concept that is designated by the word "red" is that characteristic which is common to apples, cherries, and blood. The abstract general idea or concept that is signified by the word "dog" is the collection of those characteristics which are common to Airedales, Collies, and Chihuahuas.[citation needed]
John Stuart Mill argued that general conceptions are formed through abstraction. A general conception is the common element among the many images of members of a class. "...[W]hen we form a set of phenomena into a class, that is, when we compare them with one another to ascertain in what they agree, some general conception is implied in this mental operation" (A System of Logic, Book IV, Ch. II). Mill did not believe that concepts exist in the mind before the act of abstraction. "It is not a law of our intellect, that, in comparing things with each other and taking note of their agreement, we merely recognize as realized in the outward world something that we already had in our minds. The conception originally found its way to us as the result of such a comparison. It was obtained (in metaphysical phrase) by abstraction from individual things" (Ibid.).
It happened in Monterey, a long time ago
I met her in Monterey, in old Mexico
Stars and steel guitars and luscious lips, as red as wine
Broke somebody's heart and I'm afraid that it was mine
It happened in Monterey without thinking twice
I left her and threw away the key to paradise
My indiscreet heart longs for the sweetheart
That I left in old Monterey
Ah, it happened in Monterey, a long time ago
I met her in Monterey, in old Mexico
Stars, guitars, lips red as wine
Broke somebody's heart and I fear that it was mine
It happened in Monterey and without thinking twice
I left her and I threw away the key to paradise
My indiscreet heart, how it longs for that sweetheart
That I left in old Monterey
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