In metaphysics, and especially ontology, a concept is a fundamental category of existence. In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:[1]
- Concepts as mental representations, where concepts are entities that exist in the brain.
- Concepts as abilities, where concepts are abilities peculiar to cognitive agents.
- Concepts as abstract objects, where objects are the constituents of propositions that mediate between thought, language, and referents.
eidetisch 