thingconcept

Thingconcept is a theoretical construct used in philosophy, cognitive science, and information science to denote an abstract unit of classification that captures the essential pattern shared by a range of concrete objects. A thingconcept represents a type-level idea rather than a single token; it is instantiated by many particular objects in the world that share a core structure, function, or role.

Its scope includes everyday objects and domain-specific categories. The term helps analyze how agents group diverse phenomena under a common label and distinguishes generic classification from individual instances.

Relation to type-token: In the type-token framework, a thingconcept is the type, while each physical or digital object satisfying the pattern is a token of that type.

Examples: The thingconcept of 'chair' encodes features such as a seating surface and back support, though the exact form varies widely (armchairs, stools, rocking chairs). The thingconcept of 'container' can apply to bottles, boxes, or bags that hold contents.

Applications: In ontology design and knowledge graphs, thingconcepts define reusable classes across domains. In cognitive science and NLP, they support generalization, analogy, and transfer of learning between related objects.

See also: concept, ontology, type-token distinction.