Abstract
This paper proposes a new natural kinds framework according to which kindhood is relational, dynamic, and scale-relative. Reflecting on the ontogenesis of a scientific classification, I argue that there are two distinct conceptual stages to a scientific classification: a first stage in which enough entities and relations must be authenticated for kindhood to emerge and a second in which the nature of authenticated entities and relations is investigated. The new framework is scale-relative and explains both the changing nature of the entities and relations themselves as well as the changing nature of the classifications in which they are organised.
Highlights
This paper has been a long time in the making and has gone through several complete re-writings
Before we look at some examples, let us first say more about perspectives
Scientific classifications are invaluable for understanding what entities there are and have been in the world and how they relate to one another
Summary
In their Standford Encyclopaedia article on natural kinds, Bird and Tobin (2017) offer the Standard Model classification of fundamental particles as one of the paradigmatic examples of natural kinds. The Periodic Table of Elements can be said to be vulnerable to a ‘scaling problem’, caused by some superheavy elements (Z=119 onwards) Such elements may turn out to threaten the periodicity of elements which constitutes the periodic table’s organising principle (Ball 2019). The main point to emphasise in connection to these examples is not that these classifications aren’t outstandingly empirically successful, but rather that they are evolving classifications, with no rigid structure or final form. Another related point to emphasise here is that valuable lessons about the methodology and ontology of scientific classifications can be lost by neglecting scale-relativity and the ontogenesis of scientific classifications. The first stage, as we shall see, concerns the validation of a phenomenon as empirically genuine and plays a distinct role for the ontology of scientific classifications, whilst the second stage will be shown to be crucial for understanding the precise nature of any phenomena
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