Among philosophers there is currently a quarrel about what role (if any) concepts—the kind you can state in language—play in skilled activities.19 On one side is Hubert Dreyfus, who says that when we are engaged in an activity that we are already competent in, anything so thoroughly mental as a “concept” doesn’t normally play a role. It can only get in the way and disrupt our “smooth coping.” By “smooth coping” he means a way of acting
