A conceptual system is a system that is composed of non-

physical Physical may refer to: * Physical examination, a regular overall check-up with a doctor * ''Physical'' (Olivia Newton-John album), 1981 ** "Physical" (Olivia Newton-John song) * ''Physical'' (Gabe Gurnsey album) * "Physical" (Alcazar song) (2004) * ...

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ...

s, i.e. ideas or concepts. In this context a

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

is taken to mean "an interrelated, interworking set of objects".

Overview

A conceptual system is a

conceptual model A conceptual model is a representation of a system. It consists of concepts used to help people know, understand, or simulate a subject the model represents. In contrast, physical models are physical object such as a toy model that may be asse ...

. Such systems may be related to any topic from formal science to individual

imagination Imagination is the production or simulation of novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses. Stefan Szczelkun characterises it as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations ...

. Conceptual systems may be found within the human mind, as works of art and fiction, and within the academic world. Indeed, this article may be understood as a conceptual system because it includes a set of interrelated concepts. Broadly, when a conceptual system includes a range of values, ideas, and beliefs the conceptual system is said be a view of the world. In

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

and

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, a conceptual system may refer to an individual's mental model of the world. In humans, a conceptual system may be understood as kind of a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

for the world. In science, there are many forms of conceptual systems including laws, theories, and models. Those conceptual systems may be developed through

inductive reasoning Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which a general principle is derived from a body of observations. It consists of making broad generalizations based on specific observations. Inductive reasoning is distinct from ''deductive'' re ...

deductive reasoning Deductive reasoning is the mental process of drawing deductive inferences. An inference is deductively valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, i.e. if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be fal ...

, and

empirical analysis In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empiric ...

. The idea that the human mind might contain conceptual systems goes back at least as far as Kelly's

personal construct theory Within personality psychology, personal construct theory (PCT) or personal construct psychology (PCP) is a theory of personality and cognition developed by the American psychologist George Kelly in the 1950s.For example: (first published 1955); ...

in 1955. More recently, many scholars discuss conceptual systems and the importance of understanding them (c.f. Bateson, Luhmann,

Senge Senge is an a capella vocal group from southern Madagascar. The group was formed as a male trio that performed the ''beko'' polyharmonic style of the Tandroy people A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such ...

, Quine, Eco, Umpleby, an
Wallis
. On the personal level, the human mind is generally held to contain a wide range of conceptual systems although they are not well organized. Indeed, our minds are full of conflicting mental models which makes decision making unreliable - particularly in large-scale, complex situations. Within the academic literature, each theory may be understood as a conceptual system. Conceptual systems are generally held to have greater value when they are more useful, based on more research, and are more systemically interrelated. Generally, that validity may also be described in terms of its internal

coherence Coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following: Physics * Coherence (physics), an ideal property of waves that enables stationary (i.e. temporally and spatially constant) interference * Coherence (units of measurement), a deriv ...

and the correspondence between the conceptual system and other systems (e.g. social systems or

physical system A physical system is a collection of physical objects. In physics, it is a portion of the physical universe chosen for analysis. Everything outside the system is known as the environment. The environment is ignored except for its effects on the ...

s). Coherence may be tested by

Integrative complexity Integrative complexity is a research psychometric that refers to the degree to which thinking and reasoning involve the recognition and integration of multiple perspectives and possibilities and their interrelated contingencies. Integrative com ...

(for individuals) and b
Integrative Propositional Analysis
(for academic theories). Correspondence is generally tested by

and conditions of

falsifiability Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses that was introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his book '' The Logic of Scientific Discovery'' (1934). He proposed it as the cornerstone of a s ...

. The conceptual system may then be said to model the physical or social system and serve as a guide for individual behavior or academic research.

Examples

Examples of conceptual systems include: *Assumptions * Business decision map * Entity-relationship model *

Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

Laws of science Scientific laws or laws of science are statements, based on repeated experiments or observations, that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena. The term ''law'' has diverse usage in many cases (approximate, accurate, broad, or narrow ...

* Metalogic * Mind map * Model *

Object-oriented programming Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of ...

: allows conceptual systems to be defined in a robust manner. *

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

Schema The word schema comes from the Greek word ('), which means ''shape'', or more generally, ''plan''. The plural is ('). In English, both ''schemas'' and ''schemata'' are used as plural forms. Schema may refer to: Science and technology * SCHEMA ...

* Strategic plan *

Theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...

Unified Modeling Language The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a general-purpose, developmental modeling language in the field of software engineering that is intended to provide a standard way to visualize the design of a system. The creation of UML was originally m ...

* Values

References

External links

Language and Conceptual Systems
at Berkeley.edu, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Conceptual System

Overview

Examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links