Analysis of Basic Concepts

Abstract

The concepts of abstraction and configuration, in the last analysis, are the fundamental concepts in the psychology of perception and thinking. We have examined the concept of “gestalten” and their “structuring” in the context of gestalt psychology, the concept of “operations” and their “interiorization” in the context of genetic psychology, and the concept of “psychological patterns” and their “formation” in the context of functional psychology. From the theoretical standpoint, as we have noted before, these varied conceptions involve a common process, abstraction, and result in a common product, configuration. We shall then, in this chapter, undertake a logical analysis of these basic conceptions.