Description: The notion of 'natural kinds' has been central to contemporary discussions of metaphysics and philosophy of science. Although explicitly articulated by nineteenth-century philosophers like Mill, Whewell and Venn, it has a much older history dating back to Plato and Aristotle. In recent years, essentialism has been the dominant account of natural kinds among philosophers, but the essentialist view has encountered resistance, especially among naturalist metaphysicians and philosophers of science. Informed by detailed examination of classification in the natural and social sciences, this book argues against essentialism and for a naturalist account of natural kinds. By looking at case studies drawn from diverse scientific disciplines, from fluid mechanics to virology and polymer science to psychiatry, the author argues that natural kinds are nodes in causal networks. On the basis of this account, he maintains that there can be natural kinds in the social sciences as well as the natural sciences.
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EAN: 9781107012745
UPC: 9781107012745
ISBN: 9781107012745
MPN: N/A
Book Title: Natural Categories and Human Kinds: Classification
Item Length: 23.1 cm
Number of Pages: 264 Pages
Publication Name: Natural Categories and Human Kinds: Classification in The Natural and Social Sciences
Language: English
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Item Height: 235 mm
Subject: Sociology, Science
Publication Year: 2013
Type: Textbook
Item Weight: 530 g
Author: Muhammad Ali Khalidi
Item Width: 157 mm
Format: Hardcover
