Introduction

Concepts play a central role in Western philosophy and its history. Several central philosophical subdisciplines – including logic, epistemology and philosophy of mind – focus on concepts as their subject matter and have developed sophisticated theories of concepts as components of thought. Moreover, at least since the early modern period, many Western philosophers have defended constructivist accounts of reality, according to which concepts (at least partially) constitute reality. In so doing, they tend to conceive of concepts not only as elements of thought, but also as foundational elements of reality. Furthermore, many Western philosophers take philosophy to be essentially concerned with concepts, by arguing for instance that the very task of philosophy is to engage in ‘conceptual analysis’ (in the analytic tradition) or in the ‘production of concepts’ (in continental philosophy, notably according to Gilles Deleuze).