Natural Kinds and Conceptual Change

ISBN-13: 9780521825993 / Angielski / Twarda / 2003 / 232 str.

Joseph LaPorte

Opis

According to the received tradition, the language used to refer to natural kinds in scientific discourse remains stable even as theories about these kinds are refined. Hence, scientists discover, rather than stipulate, that sentences like 'Whales are mammals, not fish' are true. In this illuminating book, Joseph LaPorte argues that scientists do not discover that sentences about natural kinds, like 'Whales are mammals, not fish', are true rather than false. Instead, scientists find that these sentences were vague in the language of earlier speakers, and they refine the meanings of the relevant natural-kind terms to make sentences true. Hence, scientists change the meanings of these terms. This conclusion prompts LaPorte to examine the consequences of this change in meaning for the issue of incommensurability and for the progress of science.

Recenzje

"LaPorte's style is clear and concise, his arguments challenging and generally convincing. I warmly recommend this book to anyone interested in the philosophy of science, biology, and language."
Jochen Faseler, The Review of Metaphysics

Spis treści

Preface; Introduction; 1. What is a natural kind and do biological taxa qualify?; 2. Natural kinds, rigidity and essence; 3. Biological kind term reference and the discovery of essence; 4. Chemical kind term reference and the discovery of essence; 5. Linguistic change and incommensurability; 6. Meaning change, theory change and analyticity; Notes; References; Index.