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Models of Discovery and Creativity pp 127–166Cite as

Conceptual Change: Creativity, Cognition, and Culture

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Part of the book series: Origins: Studies in the Sources of Scientific Creativity ((ORIN,volume 3))

Abstract

Concept formation and change—what I here call “conceptual innovation”—is one of the most creative dimensions of scientific practice. Throughout the history of the sciences changes in representational structure have provided “revolutionary” understandings of nature. As with other creative outcomes, conceptual revolutions are still widely perceived to be the outcomes of mysterious acts of individual genius, such as represented by an Isaac Newton, a Charles Darwin, or an Albert Einstein. The object of this paper is to dispel this notion by establishing how to incorporate both the undoubtedly unique contributions of individual scientists and the inherently socio-cultural nature of all scientific creations into the analysis of conceptual innovation. The route to meeting this objective lies in interpreting the conceptual practices scientists employ as deriving both from aspects of mundane human cognitive capabilities and from the social and cultural contexts, scientific and ordinary, in which they are embedded. What is required to construct such an interpretation is 1) knowledge of pertinent aspects of human cognition, 2) knowledge of specific practices implicated in cases of conceptual innovation, and 3) an understanding of how social and cultural contexts provide conceptual, analytical, and material resources that shape such practices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia, USA

    Nancy J. Nersessian

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  1. Nancy J. Nersessian
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Correspondence to Nancy J. Nersessian .

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  1. Vakgroep Wijsbegeerte, en Moraalwetenschap, Universiteit Gent, Blandijnberg 2, Gent, 9000, Belgium

    J. Meheus

  2. College of Arts & Science, Department of Philosophy, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, 89557, USA

    T. Nickles

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Nersessian, N.J. (2009). Conceptual Change: Creativity, Cognition, and Culture. In: Meheus, J., Nickles, T. (eds) Models of Discovery and Creativity. Origins: Studies in the Sources of Scientific Creativity, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3421-2_8

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