Natural kinds / / Muhammad Ali Khalidi.

• Superior document: Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of science,
• VerfasserIn: Khalidi, Muhammad Ali (Professor of philosophy),
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press,, 2023.
• Year of Publication: 2023
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of science,
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (72 pages) :; illustrations (black and white, and colour), digital, PDF file(s).
• Notes: Also issued in print: 2023.
• Audience: Specialized.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references.
• ISBN: 1009020757; 1009020552; 100900865X
• ISSN: 2517-7273
• Access: Open access.
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Muhammad Ali Khalidi.

Scientists cannot devise theories, construct models, propose explanations, make predictions, or even carry out observations, without first classifying their subject matter. The goal of scientific taxonomy is to come up with classification schemes that conform to nature's own. Another way of putting this is that science aims to devise categories that correspond to 'natural kinds'. The interest in ascertaining the real kinds of things in nature is as old as philosophy itself, but it takes on a different guise when one adopts a naturalist stance in philosophy, that is when one looks closely at scientific practice and takes it as a guide for identifying natural kinds and investigating their general features. This Element surveys existing philosophical accounts of natural kinds, defends a naturalist alternative, and applies it to case studies in a diverse set of sciences.