Re: Categories in developmental psychology!

[Johannes Huebschmann <huebschm@math.univ-lille1.fr>]

I guess these observations should be interpreted with circumspection,
in the light of Lacan's usage of topological notions
in psychoanalysis, see e.g. Sokal-Bricmont, Impostures
intellectuelles p. 55.

The term category goes back to Aristotle;
the word (kategoria) in inself is older but it seems
Aristotle attributed to it the kind of meaning
we are talking about here.

The term functor derives from the latin verb fungi (deponens).
It seems Eilenberg-Mac Lane learnt the term functor from Carnap.



Best

Johannes






On Tue, 12 Feb 2013, Jamie Vicary wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I recently came across an intriguing volume entitled "Morphisms and
> Categories: Comparing and Transforming". The lead author is Piaget,
> one of the foremost names in developmental psychology, who died in
> 1980. The volume is a collection of papers, many of which seem to
> enthusiastically apply ideas of category theory to developmental
> psychology.
>
> I haven't seen the book itself, but this link lets you read the full
> introduction and the first page of each chapter:
>    http://www.questia.com/library/6364330/morphisms-and-categories-comparing-and-transforming
>
> Reading the introduction, it's clear that Piaget took very seriously
> the idea that category theory could provide a formal foundation for
> psychology. Does this perspective survive in the modern psychology
> literature? Does anybody know how Piaget came to be acquainted with
> these categorical ideas in the first place? Is there anything here
> that could be of interest to modern category theorists?
>
> Best wishes,
> Jamie.
>
>
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>


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