Conceptual-role is the functional position a concept occupies within a system of concepts — the inferences it licenses, the concepts it connects to, and the explanatory work it performs. Parameters: (1) a network of related concepts within which the role is defined; (2) a set of inferential transitions the concept licenses; (3) an explanatory or theoretical function within a framework. Persisted through academic discourse in philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and semantic theory — taught, debated, and refined across generations of theorists. [formal: conceptual role | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
conceptual-role
Conceptual-role is the functional position a concept occupies within a system of concepts — the inferences it licenses, the concepts it connects to, and the explanatory work it performs. Parameters: (1) a network of related concepts within…
Definition
Why it is in scope
Conceptual-role is a human-made theoretical construct from philosophy of mind and cognitive science that describes the function or job a concept performs within a cognitive system or theoretical framework — what work it does, how it relates to other concepts, and what inferences it licenses. It is built to persist through academic discourse, cognitive theory, and philosophical analysis.
Names and aliases
- conceptual-roleen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
Conceptual-role IS the function a term plays within a language system — this is object-level, not meta-level (cf. Law 2b: self depends on language because it is constituted by narrative, not because it needs naming). Remove language and conceptual-role has no domain to operate in.
- cmrsdksqi00t9ollh3126cttmINSTANCE_OF →
A conceptual-role is a specific kind of role — the function or position a concept occupies within a conceptual system. INSTANCE_OF with conceptual-role as the specific member.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 30, 2026, 4:02 PM UTC
- Content hash
- 3ff4f364e3a7c65afd3b5f6a9c7fed5e9a180e3deff7958bcb3700674660139e