Single Idea 8283

[catalogued under 7. Existence / E. Categories / 1. Categories]

Full Idea

Ontological categories should not be confused with natural kinds: for natural kinds can only be differentiated in a principled way relative to an accepted framework of ontological categories.

Gist of Idea

Ontological categories are not natural kinds: the latter can only be distinguished using the former

Source

E.J. Lowe (The Possibility of Metaphysics [1998], 8.2)

Book Reference

Lowe,E.J.: 'The Possibility of Metaphysics' [OUP 2001], p.179


A Reaction

I presume that the natural kinds are likely to be contingent facts about the actual world (though they may entail necessary laws), whereas I like to think, unfashionably, that categories aim at deconstructing the mind of God (roughly).