Millikan's Unicepts and Unitrackers

An underpinning theory of Hodges' model must help us make sense of what is happening within the care domains, between the domains, and possibly say something about what may be significant relation[s]-ships that are diametric. Arriving at threshold concepts I wondered in Hodges' model about there being compound threshold concepts. Consider, when 2-3 thresholds are (b)reached in one (the sciences) domain? Contrast this then, with 4-5 thresholds across care domains? There may also be care concepts applicable that are for example, person-centred: that is, patient, carer, 'management', or policy defined? These concepts while not threshold related per se, are nonetheless relevant.

I came across the work of Ruth G Millikan in London, several years ago as I followed 'epistemology' around the shop. It is time to pick this up and earlier work:

Millikan, Ruth Garrett. “Biosemantics.” The Journal of Philosophy 86, no. 6 (1989): 281–97. https://doi.org/10.2307/2027123

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235734046_Biosemantics 

INTRODUCTION TO PART I

0.4 Unicepts and Unitrackers

'Neither the clusters in the world nor their properties are found at the sensory surfaces. The properties characterize distal objects and events. They are manifested in diverse and irregular ways through signs impinging on the sensory surfaces, energy patterns that are contingent on shifting intervening circumstances.' ...

'A unitracker is a mechanism or faculty for same-tracking something, for recognizing when incoming information concerns it, then linking and storing this information together as information about one and the same thing. Only then can it can be brought to bear together on inference and action. The link connecting stored information about the same thing together is a "unicept." The information is recognized, paradigmatically,by the initiation or strengthening of an intentional attitude of credence, which we tentatively model as a temporary or enduring connection between the unicept and unicepts for other things.'

'Both unicepts and unitrackers are particulars. You and I do not have any of the same unicepts or unitrackers. What we have in common is unicepts and unitrackers for many of the same things.' ...

'Unitrackers are same-trackers used for collecting knowledge about their targets.' pp.7-8.

Millikan, Ruth Garrett, Beyond Concepts: Unicepts, Language, and Natural Information (Oxford, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Oct. 2017), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198717195.001.0001, accessed 16 Feb. 2026.