Abstract
An important aspect of the alleged logical inadequacy of identity criteria for artifact kinds is the lack of transitivity. This formal problem can be eliminated through the use of a tool allowing for the gradual approximation of inadequate but normally adopted identity criteria. Although this does not solve the problem of so-called ontological respectability of artifacts, it shows that the mere lack of transitivity cannot be used to argue that artifacts are not ontologically respectable.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
We mention congruence in the list of constraints because, even if it is not a formal requirement on R like the others, it provides a further relevant criterion of selection among the possible R-relations that meet all the previous constraints.
- 3.
Another example of the same position is Wiggins (2001).
- 4.
Wiggins proposes (IC3) in (2001, pp. 72, 91).
- 5.
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Carrara, M., Gaio, S., Soavi, M. (2014). Artifact Kinds, Identity Criteria, and Logical Adequacy. In: Franssen, M., Kroes, P., Reydon, T.A.C., Vermaas, P.E. (eds) Artefact Kinds. Synthese Library, vol 365. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00801-1_6
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