Are Chemical Substances Natural Kinds?

Robin Hendry (Durham University)

The talk will begin at 4:30pm. Tea and coffee will be available from 4pm, in the Garwood Lecture Theatre, UCL.

Are Chemical Substances Natural Kinds?
Are chemical substances natural kinds? On the one hand, chemical kinds like water and gold have been so central to the philosophical literature on natural kinds that they should be regarded as paradigms by which to judge general criteria for the 'naturalness' of other classificatory terms. This suggests that chemical substances cannot fail to be natural kinds. On the other hand, these very examples violate general criteria for being natural kinds that are widely accepted in the metaphysical literature, including (i) discreteness and (ii) independence from classificatory interests. Perhaps chemical substances aren't natural kinds after all.

In response to these tensions I argue that it is the general criteria that should be rejected, because (i) the arguments for applying them are a priori (i.e. independent of information drawn from any particular empirical science), and (ii) there are core cases of natural kinds that fail to satisfy them. I also argue that neither non-discreteness nor interest-dependence undermine important realist theses about natural kinds.

Forthcoming seminars. Same time, same place….
20th Nov Professor Andrew Pickering, University of Exeter – Sketches of Another Future: Cybernetics in Britain, 1940-2000  

11th Dec Professor Brian Balmer, UCL STS – The early years of the biological weapons convention  

22nd Jan Dr Sarah Edwards, UCL – The ethics of clinical research during a pandemic  

5th Feb Dr Julie Anderson, University of Kent – Canes, Canines and Communication: Technological Aids for Blind People 1920-1950  

12th Feb Professor Donald Mackenzie, University of Edinburgh – How Do High-Frequency Traders Make Their Money? Prediction, Shared Knowledge and Morals in Automated Trading  

5th Mar Dr Jordan Goodman, UCL STS – Science and Diplomacy: Joseph Banks and the Macartney Embassy to China, 1792-4  

19th Mar Dr Brendan Larvor, University of Hertfordshire – Who studies mathematical practice and why?