Toward a Formal Science of Concepts
META-UP — A Reconstruction Calculus for the Semantic Standard Model of Scientific Knowledge
A formal science of concepts that treats concepts as admissibly reconstructable semantic objects—and develops META-UP as a reconstruction calculus for scientific knowledge.
A concept is treated not merely as a word or mental representation, but as an admissibly reconstructable semantic object (ARSO)—reconstructable, not necessarily already reconstructed.
Science rests on concepts. Every discipline presupposes answers to what counts as an object, a relation, a legitimate inference, and an admissible explanation. Those answers differ across fields—often productively, sometimes incompatibly—yet the concepts themselves are rarely treated as objects of systematic science.
CONCEPTOLOGY proposes a formal science of concepts. Its subject is not vocabulary lists, mental images, or ontology labels as such, but objective semantic structures that can be reconstructed, compared, and communicated.
META-UP is the methodological response developed in this volume: a formal reconstruction calculus. Concepts are not taken as unexplained primitives of a chosen foundation; they are reconstructed under adequacy criteria so that formation, comparison, and reuse can be discussed across communities.
The programme investigates reconstructibility, comparability, and interoperability—without claiming that every philosophical problem of concepts is solved or that every concept is already formally reconstructed.
Concepts as admissibly reconstructable semantic objects—distinct from words, ontology nodes, or embeddings alone.
A reconstruction calculus with operators, definition spaces, admissibility, and quality assurance.
Explicit reconstruction paths that make conceptual commitments inspectable across disciplines.
Definitional and expansion spaces in which reconstructed concepts can be compared and reused.
Formal laboratories in set theory, FCA, description logics, type theory, and category theory.
A long-term vision of a Semantic Standard Model of Scientific Knowledge—explored, not declared complete.
Nine parts (project version 2.08). Themes below summarise the current aggregation; chapter detail is in the book and website PDF.
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ISBN: 979-8187401895
ASIN: B0H99J5JMW
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Dortmund
Author of CONCEPTOLOGY / META-UP. Content responsibility rests with the author; production is agent-supported and human-approved. No invented biography beyond project and imprint facts.
| Title | CONCEPTOLOGY |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Toward a Formal Science of Concepts |
| Programme line | META-UP — A Reconstruction Calculus for the Semantic Standard Model of Scientific Knowledge |
| Author | Hermann Bense, Dortmund |
| Publisher | bense.com Digital Publishing Company GmbH, Dortmund |
| Edition | First published edition, August 2026 |
| Project version | 2.08 |
| Language of the book | English |
| ISBN | 979-8187401895 |
| ASIN | B0H99J5JMW |
| Formats | Amazon paperback; website PDF (production snapshot v2.08) |
The print edition points readers to a download page for the latest digital edition. This landing page is the public web entry.
A website PDF production snapshot (v2.08) is available for viewing. It is not a substitute for the Amazon print edition.