Natural Kinds

Abstract

We saw in Chapter 1 how easy and plausible it is to treat species as bona fide features of reality (even if we lack a precise understanding of what sort of features they are). The same can be said for diverse objects of our classification schemes: the elements, fundamental particles, and other substances, for example.¹ Call this general stance about classification Classificatory Realism: that for the most part, systems of classification describe pre-existent features of the world that are independent of our classificatory activities.^a Commitment to Classificatory Realism apparently involves two different kinds of claims: a metaphysical claim about the reality of the divisions to which scientific theories attempt to attune their categories and an epistemological claim concerning our relative success (or at least confidence in our success) at this endeavor.^b