Abstraction

Abstraction is a process where general <a href="/facts/Concept/VWB6yhQp">concepts</a> and <a href="/facts/Rules/tdpfv3HR">rules</a> are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (<a href="/facts/Reality/oC1xokDB">real</a> or <a href="/facts/Abstract_and_concrete/uNshak6S">concrete</a>) signifiers, <a href="/facts/First_principle/1kJp5tbC">first principles</a>, or other methods.
"An abstraction" is the outcome of this process — a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category.
Conceptual abstractions may be made by filtering the <a href="/facts/Information/3LdrzXtJ">information</a> content of a <a href="/facts/Concept/VWB6yhQp">concept</a> or an observable <a href="/facts/Phenomenon/4CBrlVeW">phenomenon</a>, selecting only those aspects which are relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a <a href="/facts/Ball/8WmjNhx7">ball</a> selects only the information on general ball attributes and behavior, excluding but not eliminating the other phenomenal and cognitive characteristics of that particular ball. In a <a href="/facts/Type%25E2%2580%2593token_distinction/bowhkeL4">type–token distinction</a>, a type (e.g., a 'ball') is more abstract than its tokens (e.g., 'that leather soccer ball').
Abstraction in its secondary use is a material process, discussed in the themes below.

Abstraction open-in-new

Abstraction