Complex Concepts

For some time cognitive anthropology, and indeed cognitive science generally, hove been concerned with issues of conceptual representation. tnadequocies in classical ond more recent approaches, in particular. prototype theories, hove motivated a scorch for alternative accounts. We propose an approach to conceptuol representation thot requires the specification of domain theories, from which conceptual definitions are generated, and within which the relations among concepts can be formalized. We demonstrate the utility of a formal charocterizotion of this view of domains and concepts in the analysis of an aspect of the basic metaphysics constructed by the people of West Futuno, Vanuatu. In the process, we expond the set of formal devices traditionally relied upon by onthropologists and others involved in cognitive studies, and thereby gain insight into the complexity of the metaphysical beliefs of an Oceanic people.