ABSTRACT
It is a very good question to ask here whether this identification of the Kantian concept with the Fregean is at all correct. There are some obvious differences, for sure, between the two. Concepts, and functions generally, form an important item in Frege's ontology, but they are not accorded any ontological status by Kant. Concepts confer unity to our thoughts, judgements in Kant's view, because they are the rules of synthesis, which is a mental act; but there is no question of any synthesis being involved in bringing about the unity for Frege. In fact, the unity of thought is not a thing which is brought about by an act of the mind, in Frege's theory, it is something which is out there, albeit in the third realm, independently of us and of our activities. Thoughts are objective entities, their unity is also something objective.
