A “category mistake” is a concept proposed by Gilbert Ryle, in which a concept or object is perceived in the wrong category or context. It is used to describe a situation in which accurate understanding is hindered because of a misunderstanding of the nature or relationship of things.
For example, a famous example from Lyle is when a visitor to a university asks, “I know the buildings and facilities, but where is the university itself?” This question is a misunderstanding that arises because it thinks of the university as a physical entity, like a building, and misses the point that a university is a whole collection of buildings and functions, not something that can be identified individually. This misunderstanding of which category a concept belongs to is called the “category illusion.”
Ryle used this “category illusion” to criticize Descartes’ mind-body dualism. He pointed out that to view the mind as materialized like matter is itself a misunderstanding of the nature of mind. In this way, the concept of “category error” has been used to clarify various philosophical issues through the criticism that we lose sight of the essence if we do not understand the mind in the correct category.
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