Editing Abstraction (section)

==As used in different disciplines==

===In art===
{{Main|Abstraction (art)}}
Typically, ''abstraction'' is used in the arts as a [[synonym]] for [[abstract art]] in general. Strictly speaking, it refers to art unconcerned with the literal depiction of things from the visible world—it can, however, refer to an object or image which has been distilled from the real world, or indeed, another work of art.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003405/abstract-art|title=abstract art|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=March 2024 }}</ref> Artwork that reshapes the natural world for expressive purposes is called abstract; that which derives from, but does not imitate a recognizable subject is called nonobjective abstraction. In the 20th century the trend toward abstraction coincided with advances in science, technology, and changes in urban life, eventually reflecting an interest in psychoanalytic theory.<ref>[[Catherine de Zegher]] and Hendel Teicher (eds.), ''3 X Abstraction''. NY/New Haven: The Drawing Center/Yale University Press. 2005. {{ISBN|0-300-10826-5}}</ref> Later still, abstraction was manifest in more purely formal terms, such as color, freedom from objective context, and a reduction of form to basic geometric designs.<ref>[http://www.nga.gov/education/american/abstract.shtm National Gallery of Art: Abstraction.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509153115/http://www.nga.gov/education/american/abstract.shtm |date=May 9, 2011 }}</ref>

===In computer science===
{{Main|Abstraction (software engineering)}}
[[Computer scientists]] use abstraction to make models that can be used and re-used without having to re-write all the program code for each new application on every different type of computer. They [[communication|communicate]] their solutions with the computer by writing [[source code]] in some particular [[computer language]] which can be translated into [[machine code]] for different types of computers to execute. Abstraction allows program designers to separate a framework (categorical concepts related to computing problems) from specific instances which implement details. This means that the program code can be written so that code does not have to depend on the specific details of supporting applications, [[operating system]] software, or hardware, but on a categorical concept of the solution. A solution to the problem can then be integrated into the system framework with minimal additional work. This allows programmers to take advantage of another programmer's work, while requiring only an abstract understanding of the implementation of another's work, apart from the problem that it solves.

=== In general semantics ===
Abstractions and levels of abstraction play an important role in the theory of [[general semantics]] originated by [[Alfred Korzybski]]. [[Anatol Rapoport]] wrote "Abstracting is a mechanism by which an infinite variety of experiences can be mapped on short noises (words)."<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Rapoport
| first1 = Anatol
| author-link1 = Anatol Rapoport
| title = Science and the Goals of Man
| location = New York
| publisher = Harper & Bros.
| date = 1950
| page = 68
}}
quoted in:
{{cite book
| last1 = Gorman
| first1 = Margaret
| title = General Semantics and Contemporary Thomism
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=b9-NRHuJo0MC
| series = Bison
| volume = 146
| location = Lincoln
| publisher = University of Nebraska Press
| date = 1962
| page = 43
| isbn = 9780803250758
| access-date = 2018-05-26
| quote = Abstracting is a mechanism by which an infinite variety of experiences can be mapped on short noises (words).
}}
</ref>

=== In history ===
[[Francis Fukuyama]] defines [[history]] as "a deliberate attempt of abstraction in which we separate out important from unimportant events".<ref>
{{cite book
| last1 = Fukuyama
| first1 = Francis
| author-link1 = Francis Fukuyama
| year = 1992
| title = The End of History and the Last Man
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4HQjTGWNfhwC
| location = New York
| publisher = Simon and Schuster
| publication-date = 2006
| page = 138
| isbn = 9780743284554
| access-date = 2018-08-04
| quote = [...] 'history' is not a given, not merely a catalog of everything that has happened in the past, but a deliberate attempt of abstraction in which we separate out important from unimportant events.
}}
</ref>

===In linguistics===
{{Main|Abstraction (linguistics)}}
Researchers in [[linguistics]] frequently apply abstraction so as to allow an analysis of the phenomena of language at the desired level of detail. A commonly used abstraction, the ''[[phoneme]]'', abstracts [[speech sound]]s in such a way as to neglect details that cannot serve to differentiate meaning. Other analogous kinds of abstractions (sometimes called "[[emic unit]]s") considered by linguists include [[morpheme]]s, [[grapheme]]s, and [[lexeme]]s.

Abstraction also arises in the relation between [[syntax]], [[semantics]], and [[pragmatics]]. Pragmatics involves considerations that make reference to the user of the language; semantics considers expressions and what they denote (the [[designata]]) abstracted from the language user; and syntax considers only the expressions themselves, abstracted from the designata.

===In mathematics===
{{Main|Abstraction (mathematics)}}
Abstraction in [[mathematics]] is the process of extracting the underlying structures, patterns or properties of a mathematical concept or object, removing any dependence on real-world objects with which it might originally have been connected, and generalizing it so that it has wider applications or matching among other abstract descriptions of equivalent phenomena.

The advantages of abstraction in mathematics are:
* It reveals deep connections between different areas of mathematics.
* Known results in one area can suggest [[conjecture]]s in another related area.
* Techniques and methods from one area can be applied to [[mathematical proof|prove]] results in other related area.
*Patterns from one mathematical object can be generalized to other similar objects in the same class.

The main disadvantage of abstraction is that highly abstract concepts are more difficult to learn, and might require a degree of [[mathematical maturity]] and experience before they can be assimilated.

===In music===
In music, the term ''abstraction'' can be used to describe improvisatory approaches to interpretation, and may sometimes indicate abandonment of [[tonality]]. [[Atonality|Atonal]] music has no key signature, and is characterized by the exploration of internal numeric relationships.<ref>[http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/ABSTRACT.HTM Washington State University: Glossary of Abstraction.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911121123/http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GLOSSARY/ABSTRACT.HTM |date=September 11, 2007 }}</ref>

===In neurology===
{{Further|Intelligence|Mental rotation|Mental operations}}
A recent meta-analysis suggests that the verbal system has a greater engagement with abstract concepts when the perceptual system is more engaged in processing concrete concepts. This is because abstract concepts elicit greater brain activity in the inferior frontal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus compared to concrete concepts which elicit greater activity in the posterior cingulate, precuneus, fusiform gyrus, and parahippocampal gyrus.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = Jing | last2 = Conder | first2 = Julie A. | last3 = Blitzer | first3 = David N. | last4 = Shinkareva | first4 = Svetlana V. | s2cid = 22661328 | year = 2010 | title = Neural Representation of Abstract and Concrete Concepts: A Meta-Analysis of Neuroimaging Studies | journal = Human Brain Mapping | volume = 31| issue = 10| pages = 1459–1468| doi = 10.1002/hbm.20950 | pmid = 20108224 | pmc = 6870700 }}</ref> Other research into the [[human brain]] suggests that the left and right hemispheres differ in their handling of abstraction. For example, one meta-analysis reviewing human brain lesions has shown a left hemisphere bias during tool usage.<ref>James W. Lewis "Cortical Networks Related to Human Use of Tools" '''12''' (3): 211–231 ''The Neuroscientist'' (June 1, 2006).</ref>

===In philosophy===
{{see also|Abstract object theory}}
Abstraction in [[philosophy]] is the process (or, to some, the alleged process) in [[concept]] formation of recognizing some set of common features in [[individual]]s, and on that basis forming a concept of that feature. The notion of abstraction is important to understanding some philosophical controversies surrounding [[empiricism]] and the [[problem of universals]]. It has also recently become popular in formal logic under [[predicate abstraction]]. Another philosophical tool for the discussion of abstraction is thought space.

[[John Locke]] defined abstraction in ''[[An Essay Concerning Human Understanding]]'':

'So words are used to stand as outward marks of our internal ideas, which are taken from particular things; but if every particular idea that we take in had its own special name, there would be no end to names. To prevent this, the mind makes particular ideas received from particular things become general; which it does by considering them as they are in the mind—mental appearances—separate from all other existences, and from the circumstances of real existence, such as time, place, and so on. This procedure is called abstraction. In it, an idea taken from a particular thing becomes a general representative of all of the same kind, and its name becomes a general name that is applicable to any existing thing that fits that abstract idea.' (2.11.9)

===In psychology===
[[Carl Jung]]'s definition of abstraction broadened its scope beyond the thinking process to include exactly four mutually exclusive, different complementary psychological functions: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking. Together they form a structural totality of the differentiating abstraction process. Abstraction operates in one of these functions when it excludes the simultaneous influence of the other functions and other irrelevancies, such as emotion. Abstraction requires selective use of this structural split of abilities in the psyche. The opposite of abstraction is [[concretism (psychology)|concretism]]. ''Abstraction'' is one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of ''[[Psychological Types]]''.
{{blockquote|
There is an abstract ''thinking'', just as there is abstract ''feeling'', ''sensation'' and ''intuition''. Abstract thinking singles out the rational, logical qualities ... Abstract feeling does the same with ... its feeling-values. ... I put abstract feelings on the same level as abstract thoughts. ... Abstract sensation would be aesthetic as opposed to sensuous ''sensation'' and abstract intuition would be symbolic as opposed to fantastic ''intuition''. (Jung, [1921] (1971): par. 678).
}}

===In social theory===
[[Social theory|Social theorists]] deal with abstraction both as an ideational and as a material process. [[Alfred Sohn-Rethel]] (1899–1990) asked: "Can there be abstraction other than by thought?"<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He used the example of commodity abstraction to show that abstraction occurs in practice as people create systems of abstract exchange that extend beyond the immediate physicality of the object and yet have real and immediate consequences. This work was extended through the 'Constitutive Abstraction' approach of writers associated with the Journal [[Arena (Australian publishing co-operative)|''Arena'']]. Two books that have taken this theme of the abstraction of social relations as an organizing process in human history are ''Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community'' (1996)<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = James
 | first1 = Paul
 | author-link1 = Paul James (academic)
 | title = Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LYe0sznllHgC
 | series = Volume 1 of Towards a theory of abstract community
 | date = 14 October 1996
 | location = London
 | publisher = SAGE
 | publication-date = 1996
 | isbn = 9780761950738
 | access-date = 30 June 2021
}}
</ref>
and an associated volume published in 2006, ''Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back In''.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = James
 | first1 = Paul
 | author-link1 = Paul James (academic)
 | title = Globalism, Nationalism, Tribalism: Bringing Theory Back in
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SZUv65PpFNMC
 | series = Volume 1 of Towards a Theory of Abstract Community
 | date = 20 April 2006
 | location = London
 | publisher = SAGE
 | publication-date = 2006
 | isbn = 9781446230541
 | access-date = 30 June 2021
}}
</ref>
These books argue that a [[nation]] is an abstract community bringing together strangers who will never meet as such; thus constituting materially real and substantial, but abstracted and mediated relations. The books suggest that contemporary processes of [[globalization]] and [[Mediatization (media)|mediatization]] have contributed to materially abstracting relations between people, with major consequences for how humans live their [[human life (disambiguation)|lives]].

One can readily argue that abstraction is an elementary methodological tool in several disciplines of social science. These disciplines have definite and different concepts of "man" that highlight those aspects of man and his behaviour by idealization that are relevant for the given [[human science]]. For example, {{lang|la|homo sociologicus|italic=no}} is the man as sociology abstracts and idealizes it, depicting man as a social being. Moreover, we could talk about {{lang|la|homo cyber sapiens|italic=no}}<ref>{{cite book |last= Steels |first=Luc |title= The Homo Cyber Sapiens, the Robot Homonidus Intelligens, and the 'Artificial Life' Approach to Artificial Intelligence |location= Brussels |publisher= Vrije Universiteit, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory |year= 1995 }}</ref> (the man who can extend his biologically determined intelligence thanks to new technologies), or {{lang|la|homo creativus|italic=no}}<ref>{{cite journal | last = Inkinen | first = Sam | year = 2009 | title = Homo Creativus – Creativity and Serendipity Management in Third Generation Science and Technology Parks | journal = Science and Public Policy | volume = 36| issue = 7 | pages = 537–548| doi = 10.3152/030234209X465570| bibcode = 2009SciPP..36..537K }}</ref> (who is simply creative).

Abstraction (combined with Weberian [[Idealization (science philosophy)|idealization]]) plays a crucial role in [[economics]] - hence abstractions such as [[market (economics)|"the market"]]<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Jones
 | first1 = Campbell
 | title = Can The Market Speak?
 | date = 26 April 2013
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aRVZAQAAQBAJ
 | location = Winchester
 | publisher = John Hunt Publishing
 | publication-date = 2013
 | page = 
 | isbn = 9781782790853
 | access-date = 30 June 2021
 | quote = Scrutiny of the idea of the market will reveal that behind the category 'the market' lies abstraction upon abstraction.
}}
</ref>
and the generalized concept of "[[business]]".<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Qalo
 | first1 = Ropate R.
 | title = Small Business: A Study of a Fijian Family : the Mucunabitu Iron Works Contractor Cooperative Society Limited
 | year = 1997
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EibtAAAAMAAJ
 | location = 
 | publisher = Mucunabita Education Trust
 | publication-date = 1997
 | pages = 18, 21
 | isbn = 9789823650012
 | access-date = 30 June 2021
 | quote = [...] the concept of abstraction to which business and money belong. [...] the business is allowed to function as an abstraction [...].
}}
</ref>
Breaking away from directly experienced reality was a common trend in 19th-century sciences (especially [[physics]]), and this was the effort which fundamentally determined the way economics tried (and still tries) to approach the economic aspects of social life. It is abstraction we meet in the case of both Newton's physics and the neoclassical theory, since the goal was to grasp the unchangeable and timeless essence of phenomena. For example, [[Isaac Newton|Newton]] created the concept of the material point by following the abstraction method so that he abstracted from the dimension and shape of any perceptible object, preserving only inertial and translational motion. Material point is the ultimate and common feature of all bodies. [[Neoclassical economists]] created the indefinitely abstract notion of [[homo economicus]] by following the same procedure. Economists abstract from all individual and personal qualities in order to get to those characteristics that embody the essence of economic activity. Eventually, it is the substance of the economic man that they try to grasp. Any characteristic beyond it only disturbs the functioning of this essential core.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last= Galbács |first=Peter |chapter=Methodological Principles and an Epistemological Introduction
 |pages=1–52|title= The Theory of New Classical Macroeconomics. A Positive Critique
 |location= Heidelberg/New York/Dordrecht/London |publisher= Springer |year=2015
 |isbn= 978-3-319-17578-2|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-17578-2 |series=Contributions to Economics
}}
</ref>