interactional properties

"In order to understand the world and function in it, we have to categorize, in ways that make sense to us, the things and experiences that we encounter." (#60 2778)

"there are natural dimensions to our categories for objects: perceptual, based on the conception of the object by means of our sensory apparatus; motor activity, based on the nature of motor interactions with objects; functional, based on our conception of the functions of the object; and purposive, based on the uses we can make of an object in a given situation." (#60 2781)

"since the natural dimensions of categories (perceptual, functional, etc.) arise out of our interactions with the world, the properties given by those dimensions are not properties of objects in themselves but are, rather, interactional properties, based on the human perceptual apparatus, human conceptions of function, etc. It follows from this that true statements made in terms of human categories typically do not predicate properties of objects in themselves but rather interactional properties that make sense only relative to human functioning." (#60 2802)

"Interactional properties are prominent among the kinds of properties that count in determining sufficient family resemblance. Chairs share with stools and other kinds of seats the PURPOSIVE property of allowing us to sit. But the range of MOTOR ACTIVITIES permitted by chairs is usually different from stools and other seats. Thus the interactional properties relevant to our comprehension of chairs will include perceptual properties (the way they look, feel, etc.), functional properties (allowing us to sit), motor-activity properties (what we do with our bodies in getting in and out of them and while we're in them), and purposive properties (relaxing, eating, writing letters, etc.)." (#60 2142)

"FAKE preserves: Perceptual properties (a fake gun looks like a gun) Motor-activity properties (you handle it like a gun) Purposive properties (it serves some of the purposes of a gun) FAKE negates: Functional properties (a fake gun doesn't shoot) History of function (if it was made to be a real gun, then it's not a fake)" (#60 2109)

"This suggests that we conceptualize a gun in terms of a multidimensional gestalt of properties where the dimensions are PERCEPTUAL, MOTOR ACTIVITY, PURPOSIVE, FUNCTIONAL, etc." (#60 2118)

"If we look at what perceptual, motor-activity, and purposive properties are, we see that they are not inherent in guns themselves. Instead, they have to do with the way we interact with guns. This indicates that the concept GUN, as people actually understand it, is at least partly defined by interactional properties having to do with perception, motor activity, purpose, function, etc. Thus we find that our concepts of objects, like our concepts of events and activities, are characterizable as multidimensional gestalts whose dimensions emerge naturally from our experience in the world." (#60 2120)

"On the standard objectivist view, we can understand (and hence define) an object entirely in terms of a set of its inherent properties. But, as we have just seen, at least some of the properties that characterize our concept of an object are interactional. In addition, the properties do not merely form a set but rather a structured gestalt, with dimensions that emerge naturally from our experience." (#60 2125)