What is the Difference Between Philosophical Ideas and Concepts?

Introduction. The paper attempts to clarify the relation between ideas and concepts in philosophy seen as science and worldview. The author analyzes these forms of philosophical thought and reveals their epistemological similarities, as well as their essential and notional differences.

Materials and Methods. The paper draws upon monographs and papers by Russian and foreign scholars focusing on issues connected with the analysis of philosophical ideas and notions. The methods implemented are comparative analysis, historico-philosophical synthesis, generalization, idealization, abstraction, and interpretation.

Results. The central issue explored in the paper concerns similarities and differences between philosophical ideas and concepts. Philosophers do not have serious disagreements over the notion of a concept, but there is no consensus on what an idea is. While many thinkers seem to reduce ideas to representations, a philosophical idea is clearly different from a common opinion. Most notably, it must be expressed in form of a concept – the fact that characterizes it as an act of thinking. Analyzing these forms of thinking, the author arrives at the following conclusions: 1. Concepts reflect essence, ideas reflect aim (an ideal). 2. Concepts are a form of knowledge and are limited to the cognitive sphere; ideas pertain to understanding and are impactful. 3. Concepts are value-neutral, ideas are value-oriented. 4. Concepts are more static, ideas are more dynamic. 5. Philosophical concepts are usually anonymous, ideas are authorial. Ideas endow concepts with their original essence, while concepts endow ideas with their theoretical form. Without the creative power of ideas concepts degrade into banal epigonic thoughts. Thus, ideas and concepts are forms of thinking that have different purposes, but are still deeply connected and interchangeable.

Discussion and Conclusions. The understanding of ideas proposed in the paper goes against the currently dominant epistemological tradition which regards ideas as opinions, views, or representations and in doing so renders the term conceptually indeterminable. The heuristic and creative potential possessed by ideas that influence and stimulate the development of philosophy should be adequately evaluated. The essential role that ideas play in history should not be ignored as well. While ideas express interests of different social groups, they should not be equated with interests, as philosophical ideas are meant to express fundamental issues of human essence and existence.

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