“范畴”与“概念”之辩:基本层次

Exploring the Distinction Between Category and Concept:The Basic Level

"范畴"和"概念"的差别在基本层次表现的最为明显。基本层次范畴是物质性的、直接有意义;基本层次概念则是意识性的、间接才有意义。基本层次范畴是个意义完形;基本层次概念则为其中的一部分。基本层次范畴可分为物质范畴和符号范畴,两者皆为主体客体化和客体主体化的双向过程的产物,差别在于对象不同:前者为实体;后者为符号。与此类似,基本层次概念也可分为物质概念和符号概念,两者皆为个体经验上升为集体经验和集体经验走向个体经验的双向过程的产物,差别在于内容多寡:前者被包含在后者之内;后者为前者及符号的系统、语用意义之和。实指定义被证明是基本层次"范畴"和"概念"诸方面的连接纽带,对语言认知起着基础性作用。

The gap between categories and concepts presents itself at its widest at the basic level. The basic categories, as physi- cal phenomena, are directly meaningful; the basic concepts, being mental objects, only mean indirectly. A basic category is a meaning gestalt, of which only part finds its way into the related concept. Basic categories are of two kinds ： those of materials and those of symbols. The former involves physical entities ; the latter concerns linguistic symbols. Both of them arise, though, out of a two-way process, namely, subjectification and objectification. A similar division, based on the interaction between individual and collective experience, can be made between material and symbolic concepts, the former being included in the latter, which also takes in the systematic and pragmatic aspects of the signs. The ostensive definition has been shown to have a key role to play in linguistic cognition as it serves as a fundamental link among the various components of the basic level.