Abstract
In the last chapter, we left unfinished an examination of the issues surrounding the formation of concepts, otherwise known as universals. We examined Edelman’s (2004) global mapping theory that sought to explain the formation of concepts by means of interaction of two parts of the neural system, but we found that theory seriously inadequate for a variety of reasons. Among other things, his explanation of the process of formation of concepts does not work. In the first place, it begs too many questions and effectively collapses concepts to percepts. Even given his theory, however, there is no way to explain the formation of abstract concepts as in mathematics.
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© 2006 Springer
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Estep, M. (2006). Universals, Mathematical Thought and Awareness. In: Self-Organizing Natural Intelligence. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5299-5_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-5299-5_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5275-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5299-6
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