Scurvy and the Ontology of Natural Kinds

Authors

P.D. Magnus, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2446-3494

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2023

DOI

10.1017/psa.2023.19

Abstract

Some philosophers understand natural kinds to be the categories which are constraints on enquiry. In order to elaborate the metaphysics appropriate to such an account, I consider the complicated history of scurvy, citrus, and vitamin C. It may be tempting to understand these categories in a shallow way (as mere property clusters) or in a deep way (as fundamental properties). Neither approach is adequate, and the case instead calls for middle-range ontology: starting from categories which we identify in the world and elaborating their structure, but not pretending to jump ahead to a complete story about fundamental being.

Comments

This is the Publisher's Version made openly available:

Magnus, P.D. 2023. “Scurvy and the Ontology of Natural Kinds.” Philosophy of Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2023.19

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Magnus, P.D., "Scurvy and the Ontology of Natural Kinds" (2023). Philosophy Faculty Scholarship. 70.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/cas_philosophy_scholar/70