VOLUME LXXVII | MAY 2023

Science’s Building Blocks: How Concepts Shape Scientific Activity

Concepts are the foundation of scientific endeavors. Just as architects use blueprints to construct buildings, scientists rely on concepts to guide their investigations and theories. Whether it’s understanding mental disorders like schizophrenia and major depressive disorder or manipulating fundamental elements like calcium and iron, concepts shape the way researchers communicate and generalize their findings. These concepts provide clarity and organization within different scientific disciplines, enabling scholars to develop specific treatments for specific conditions. It’s like carving joints into a beautifully crafted piece of furniture, ensuring that each component fits together seamlessly. By dissecting and reassembling these concepts, researchers can advance our understanding of complex phenomena. To delve deeper into this fascinating topic, I encourage you to explore the underlying research!

Anne-Marie Dubois

Anne-Marie is a French-Canadian philosopher from New Brunswick, delving into existential questions of human purpose and fulfillment. Her contributions encourage reflective practices for realizing potential, inspired by Acadian resilience and communal wisdom.

Concepts lie at the core of scientific activity [1]. Psychologists investigate, describe, and treat ‘schizophrenia’ and ‘major depressive disorder,’ whereas chemists study and manipulate ‘calcium,’ ‘iron,’ and ‘helium.’ Concepts drive disciplinary specification, guide data collection, and serve as the building blocks for theories. Concepts determine how scholars communicate scientific findings and generalize them. ‘Schizophrenia’ treatments are applied to ‘schizophrenia’-diagnosed patients, but not to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (‘ADHD’)-diagnosed patients.
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