Is the Notion of “Concept” Possible?

The article examines different interpretations of the notion “concept”, beginning with S.A. Askol’dov’s essay “Concept and Word” (1928). Askol’dov, who treats the concept as a general notion, points out its main features, such as the function of substitution and the potential for carrying out certain actions. What is implied is the generative function of “intellectual generalities” with respect to “intellectual particularities”. In a coiled-up fashion, the concept contains within itself a movement towards what has repeatedly occurred in relation to similar phenomena. Although devoid of representation, the concept is highly effective in terms of its potentiality, and this is where its mysterious aspect resides. In contemporary studies of culture (Yu.S. Stepanov, D.S. Likhachev) the concept is seen as the embodiment of culture in the mind of its bearers. What is highlighted is, again, the substitutive function of the concept (Likhachev refers to it as the “algebraic” expression of the meaning of a word) as well as the presence of various levels or layers, which are actualized in group communication (Stepanov). Exhibiting fluidity and transitivity, the concept, unlike properly philosophical concepts, captures the dynamic of a subject’s becoming in language as well as the rhythm of ongoing massive transformations, including those that embrace the realm of the political.