Single Idea 16935

[catalogued under 26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 1. Natural Kinds]

Full Idea

If similarity has no degrees there is no containing of kinds within broader kinds. If colored things are a kind, they are similar, but red things are too narrow for a kind. If red things are a kind, colored things are not similar, and it's too broad.

Gist of Idea

If similarity has no degrees, kinds cannot be contained within one another

Source

Willard Quine (Natural Kinds [1969], p.118)

Book Reference

Quine,Willard: 'Ontological Relativity and Other Essays' [Columbia 1969], p.118


A Reaction

[compressed] I'm on Quine's side with this. We glibly talk of 'kinds', but the criteria for sorting things into kinds seems to be a mess. Quine goes on to offer a better account than the (diadic, yes-no) one rejected here.

Related Idea

Idea 16936 Comparative similarity allows the kind 'colored' to contain the kind 'red' [Quine]