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1 results

  • Natural Kinds: The Expendables

  • François Papale, David Montminy
  • Journal:
    Canadian Journal of Philosophy / Volume 53 / Issue 2 / February 2023
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    10 November 2023, pp. 103-120
    • Article
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  • Theoreticians that defend a form of realism regarding natural kinds minimally entertain the belief that the world features divisions into kinds and that the natural kind concept is a useful tool for philosophy of science. The objective of this paper is to challenge these assumptions. First, we challenge realism toward natural kinds by showing that the main arguments for their existence, which rely on the epistemic success of natural kinds, are unsatisfactory. Second, we show that, whether they exist or not, natural kinds are expendable when it comes to describing and analyzing scientific explanations accurately.