category mistake en · NOUN
Etymology
Popularized by philosopher Gilbert Ryle in The Concept of Mind (1949), where it is applied to the notion of a ghost in the machine.
Meanings
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A semantic or ontological error by which a property (or category) is ascribed to a thing that could not possibly have that property.
It is one big mistake and a mistake of a special kind. It is, namely, a category-mistake. It represents the facts of mental life as if they belonged to one logical type or category (or range of types or categories), when they actually belong to another. The dogma is therefore a philosopher's myth.
1949, Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind, Hutchinson, page 16:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| category-mistake | alternative | lexicographic | |
| category mistakes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |