Abstract concept

Types

The relation to experience plays a central role in the contrast between concrete and abstract concepts. Concrete concepts refer to entities that can be directly perceived, such as chairs or apples. This immediate connection to experience is absent in abstract concepts, such as idea and infinity. In practice, the contrast is not a strict dichotomy but a continuum, with many concepts exhibiting varying degrees of concreteness or abstraction. In some cases, the connection to experience is established indirectly through inference and causal processes. For example, the concept electron describes physical entities that humans cannot directly observe. However, their existence and properties can be inferred from experimental measurements. The lack of sensory anchoring generally makes abstract concepts more difficult to learn. Children typically acquire concrete concepts first and take longer to master abstract ones. A related distinction is between a posteriori and a priori concepts. A posteriori concepts can only be learned or justified through sensory experience, whereas a priori concepts cannot be learned or justified in this way.