European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (1):1-17 (2021)
| Authors |
|
| Abstract |
The new externalist picture of natural kind terms due to Kripke, Putnam, and others has become quite popular in philosophy. Many philosophers of science have remained sceptical. Häggqvist and Wikforss have recently criticised this view severely. They contend it depends essentially on a micro-essentialist view of natural kinds that is widely rejected among philosophers of science, and that a scientifically reasonable metaphysics entails the resurrection of some version of descriptivism. It is argued in this paper that the situation is not quite as dark for the new theory of reference as many critics suggest. There are several distinct questions here which should not be conflated and ought to be dealt with one by one. Descriptivism remains arguably problematic.
|
| Keywords | Natural Kinds, Reference, Descriptivism, Essentialism |
| Categories | (categorize this paper) |
| ISBN(s) | |
| DOI | 10.1007/s13194-020-00344-3 |
| Options |
Mark as duplicate
Export citation
|
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind.John R. Searle - 1983 - Cambridge University Press.
The Meaning of 'Meaning'.Hillary Putnam - 1975 - Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science 7:131-193.
The Disorder of Things: Metaphysical Foundations of the Disunity of Science.John Dupré - 1993 - Harvard University Press.
View all 62 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Indeterminacy and Reference: Comments on Roads to Reference. [REVIEW]Panu Raatikainen - 2021 - Philosophical Studies 179 (3):987-994.
Similar books and articles
Natural Kinds and Natural Kind Terms: Myth and Reality.Sören Häggqvist & Åsa Wikforss - 2018 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 69 (4):911-933.
The Reference of Natural Kind Terms.Luis Fernández Moreno - 2018 - Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy 53:35-39.
Reflection on Natural Kinds. Introduction to the Special Issue on Natural Kinds: Language, Science, and Metaphysics.Luis Fernández Moreno - 2019 - Synthese 198 (Suppl 12):2853-2862.
Water has a Microstructural Essence After All.Carl Hoefer & Genoveva Martí - 2018 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 9 (1):12.
Bachelors, Energy, Cats and Water: Putnam on Kinds and Kind Terms.Åsa Wikforss - 2013 - Theoria 79 (3):242-261.
Locke, Natural Kinds, and Essentialism.Judith Kathryn Crane - 1999 - Dissertation, Tulane University
How to Carve Nature Across the Joints Without Abandoning Kripke-Putnam Semantics.Helen Beebee - 2013 - In Stephen Mumford & Matthew Tugby (eds.), Metaphysics and Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 141-163.
The Metaphysics of Natural Kinds: An Essentialist Approach.Gbenga Fasiku - 2010 - Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
Are Natural Kind Terms Special?Åsa Wikforss - 2010 - In Helen Beebee & Nigel Sabbarton-Leary (eds.), The Semantics and Metaphysics of Natural Kinds. Routledge.
Reasonable Essentialism and Natural Kinds.Tim William E. Maudlin - 1986 - Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh
On Deriving Essentialism From the Theory of Reference.Jussi Haukioja - 2015 - Philosophical Studies 172 (8):2141-2151.
Natural Kinds: (Thick) Essentialism or Promiscuous Realism?Nigel Leary - 2007 - Philosophical Writings 34 (1):5 - 13.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2020-12-20
Total views
147 ( #80,931 of 2,520,967 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
18 ( #46,397 of 2,520,967 )
2020-12-20
Total views
147 ( #80,931 of 2,520,967 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
18 ( #46,397 of 2,520,967 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads
