Categories and Preferences Among Category Systems

Category systems are explained and defined. Historical examples are discussed in relation to the concept of a taxonomy in which one category subsumes another subcategory. The task of category selection and arrangement is characterized as the work of conceptual analysis of the same body of facts or relations. Category system building is further described as a process of identifying commonalities at the appropriate level of conceptual abstraction and analysis. An inverted tree-like diagramming convention is developed to exhibit category system relations. Formal principles are introduced to explain requirements for comparative economy of distinct category systems as a preference basis, involving numbers of Links and Nodes in category system taxonomies. Conflicting and incommensurable preference rankings and their implications are considered.