Scurvy and the Ontology of Natural Kinds

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophy of science 2023-12, Vol.90 (5), p.1031-1039
Main Author: Magnus, P.D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ascorbic acid
Categories
Chemical elements
Metaphysics
Ontology
Philosophers
Sailors
Scientific method
Scurvy
Success
Taxonomy
Vitamin C
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0031-8248
1539-767X
DOI:10.1017/psa.2023.19