4 ms·
to reify means to make an abstract concept concrete (reified abstract classes...) but it's interesting that reification is actually the name of a formal logical
by mlevental 9y ago
to reify means to make an abstract concept concrete (reified abstract classes...) but it's interesting that reification is actually the name of a formal logical fallacy: "Reification (also known as concretism, hypostatization, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete real event or physical entity."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification_(fallacy) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification_(fallacy)
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoReification of abstract concepts is an important technique in thinking. Few of us, if any, are pure abstract thinkers, and we will form examples in our head when presented with an abstraction (e.g. we will see an some kind of real apple when we hear the word apple).
- posterboy 9y agoseems to me to be related to 'ripe', because in german that's "reif", which in "ausgereifte idee" has almost the same meaning and it's probably from "Reifen" ('tire') cognate to ring, so round or rather whole. The semantic distinction between abstract and concrete idea is still virtual, though. The ripe apple you think about is still a virtual image. Or rather original, because even scientifically in e.g. biology, specific specimen are used as arch example to define clades and such. We care very much about relational structure, after all. An abstraction thus is something loosely or not at all connected to the currently favoured theory of the overall structure of life.
- abecedarius 9y agoIt's from Latin 'res' meaning 'thing'. If that's cognate to 'reif' I wouldn't know. I'd be happy with 'thingify' but that's at least less established. :)
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- dhimes 9y agoLike instantiating an object from a class.