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Full Idea
Everything that a naturalist could legitimately want from the concept of a natural kind can be had simply by reference to real patterns.
Gist of Idea
There is nothing more to a natural kind than a real pattern in nature
Source
J Ladyman / D Ross (Every Thing Must Go [2007], 5.6)
Book Ref
Ladyman,J/Ross,D: 'Every Thing Must Go' [OUP 2007], p.294
A Reaction
I think I agree with this, and with the general idea that natural kinds are overrated. There are varying degrees of stability in nature, and where there is a lot of stability our inductive reasoning can get to work. And that's it.
| 15660 | Logos is the source of everything, and my theories separate and explain each nature [Heraclitus] |
| 15993 | If we observe total regularity, there must be some unknown law and relationships controlling it [Locke] |
| 11191 | The hidden structure of a natural kind determines membership in all possible worlds [Putnam] |
| 12680 | Natural kind structures go right down to the bottom level [Ellis] |
| 5471 | Essentialism says natural kinds are fundamental to nature, and determine the laws [Ellis] |
| 13574 | Natural kinds are distinguished by resting on essences [Ellis] |
| 15150 | The properties of an electron can't be explained just as 'clustering' [Chakravartty on Boyd] |
| 15149 | Properties cluster together, either because of intrinsic relations, or because of an underlying process [Boyd, by Chakravartty] |
| 14344 | Natural kinds, such as electrons, all behave the same way because we divide them by dispositions [Mumford] |
| 14957 | There is nothing more to a natural kind than a real pattern in nature [Ladyman/Ross] |
| 15146 | Some kinds, such as electrons, have essences, but 'cluster kinds' do not [Chakravartty] |
| 13287 | Concepts for species are either intrinsic structure, or relations like breeding or ancestry [Koslicki] |
| 15641 | Kinds are fixed by the essential properties of things - the properties that make it that kind of thing [Eagle] |