Idea; in philosophy, the term “concept” has superseded the more ambiguous “idea”. To have a concept of dog is to be able to distinguish dogs from other things, or to be able to think or reason about dogs in some way.
Conceptual realists hold that concepts are objectively existing universals, like real essences. Conceptualists hold that universals are mind-dependent concepts (this is the outlook of nominalism).
ETYM French conception, Latin conceptio, from concipere to conceive. Related to Conceive.
The act of becoming pregnant; fertilization of an ovum by a spermatozoon.
ETYM Latin idea, Greek, from idein to see; akin to Eng. wit: cf. French idée. Related to Wit.
1. A personal view.
2. The content of cognition; the main thing one is thinking about; SYN. thought.
In philosophy, a term that has had a variety of technical usages; modern philosophers prefer more specific terms like “sense datum”, “image”, and “concept”. An innate idea is a concept not derived from experience.
Plato’s Ideas (also called Forms) were immaterial objects outside the mind, universals or essences existing objectively in nature. In later Greek and in medieval philosophy, ideas tended to be in the mind of God. Since the 17th century, “idea” has nearly always been used for something in or having reference to the mind. For Immanuel Kant, an idea was a representation of something that cannot be experienced. For G W F Hegel, the term meant something like the overall pattern or purpose in the universe.
1. A plan or design of something that is laid out.
2. The act of laying out (as by making plans for something).
ETYM French, from Latin planus flat, level. Related to Plain.
1. A series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished; SYN. program, programme.
2. Scale drawing of a structure; SYN. architectural plan.
3. In architectural drawing, a horizontal plane cut through a building, showing walls, doors, windows, and other features.
ETYM Latin schema a rhetorical figure, a shape, figure, manner, Greek skema, form, shape, outline, plan, from echein to have or hold; cf. Skr. sah to be victorious, to endure, as. sige victory, German sieg. Cf. Epoch, Hectic, School.
An elaborate and systematic plan of action; SYN. strategy.