Mechanisms, Models, and Kinds
This chapter explores how mechanisms and their constituents can be classified into kinds. It argues for a weakly realist account of natural kinds—one which suggests that classification into kinds is based upon real similarities between instances of those kinds, but which denies that kinds have essences or have some reality apart from their instances. I introduce a models-first account of kinds, which suggests that two things are of the same kind to the extent that they can be represented by the same model. Because target entities can be represented by multiple models, they will belong to multiple kinds. I illustrate the approach by showing how the entities and activities that make up mechanisms can be classified into kinds.
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2010 ◽
Vol 36
(9)
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pp. 1295-1304
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1998 ◽
Vol 12
(5)
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pp. 1054-1065
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2017 ◽
Vol 13
(5)
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pp. 467-490
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