Natural categories and human kinds : classification in the natural and social sciences / Muhammad Ali Khalidi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Khalidi, Muhammad Ali (Professor), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Categories (Philosophy).

Classification.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 250 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Natural Categories & Human Kinds

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Contents; Figures; Preface; Chapter 1 Metaphysical Realism and essentialism about kinds; 1.1 Kinds of things; 1.2 Kinds and universals; 1.3 Kinds and essences; 1.4 Definability; 1.5 Modal necessity; 1.6 Intrinsicality; 1.7 Microstructure; 1.8 Conclusion; Chapter 2 The naturalness of kinds; 2.1 Natural kinds and epistemic kinds; 2.2 Discoverability by science; 2.3 Scientific kinds and folk categories; 2.4 Fuzzy kinds; 2.5 Crosscutting kinds; 2.6 HPC kinds and causal kinds; 2.7 Conclusion; Chapter 3 Kinds in the special sciences; 3.1 Which sciences are special?

3.2 Multiple realizability and special-science kinds3.3 Causation and special-science kinds; 3.4 Natural laws and special-science kinds; 3.5 Real causal patterns; 3.6 Levels of explanation and crosscutting kinds; 3.7 Conclusion; Chapter 4 Kinds in the biological and social sciences; 4.1 Biological and social kinds; 4.2 Selected kinds and designed kinds; 4.3 Etiological kinds; 4.4 Historical kinds or copied kinds; 4.5 Mind-dependent and interactive kinds; 4.6 Institutional and conventional kinds; 4.7 Normative kinds or evaluative kinds; 4.8 Conclusion; Chapter 5 Kinds of natural kinds

5.1 Introduction5.2 Lithium; 5.3 Polymer; 5.4 Virus; 5.5 Cancer and cancer cell; 5.6 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); 5.7 Conclusion; Chapter 6 Kinds naturalized; 6.1 Naturalism about kinds; 6.2 Properties and kinds; 6.3 Causality and kinds; 6.4 Realism and pluralism; 6.5 Mind-independence and social constructionism; 6.6 Conclusion; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-139-88846-3

1-107-24122-7

1-107-25083-8

1-107-52172-6

1-107-25000-5

1-107-24834-5

1-107-24751-9

0-511-99855-4

1-107-24917-1

OCLC:

847521062