Natural kinds / Muhammad Ali Khalidi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Khalidi, Muhammad Ali (Professor of philosophy), author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of science, 2517-7273.

Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of science, 2517-7273

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy of nature.

Biology--Classification--Philosophy.

Biology.

Naturalism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (72 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour), digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

Scientists cannot devise theories, construct models, propose explanations, make predictions, or even carry out observations, without first classifying their subject matter. The goal of scientific taxonomy is to come up with classification schemes that conform to nature's own. Another way of putting this is that science aims to devise categories that correspond to 'natural kinds'. The interest in ascertaining the real kinds of things in nature is as old as philosophy itself, but it takes on a different guise when one adopts a naturalist stance in philosophy, that is when one looks closely at scientific practice and takes it as a guide for identifying natural kinds and investigating their general features. This Element surveys existing philosophical accounts of natural kinds, defends a naturalist alternative, and applies it to case studies in a diverse set of sciences.

Contents:

1. The metaphysics of kinds; 2. Theories of natural kinds; 3. Kinds of kinds; 4. Applications: kinds across the sciences; References.

Notes:

Also issued in print: 2023.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on August 23, 2023).

ISBN:

9781009020756

1009020757

9781009020558

1009020552

9781009008655

100900865X

Access Restriction:

Open access. Unrestricted online access