erraticwisdom: Natural Kinds in Chemistry

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One of my favorite courses so far was last semester’s “Natural Kinds”. Everything from the unique subject matter to the seminar-like structure made the class a blast, up until the final paper was due.

Never one to procrastinate (cough), I got started early and buried myself in the literature. I was on the hunt for a good topic, something I could sink into to keep the required twenty pages tightly focused. I ended up – not surprisingly – back in the sciences, studying natural kinds in chemistry.

I worked feverishly in the final weeks and was rather proud of the finished paper. So, with some encouragement I submitted it to the department’s scholarship program, and was surprised to learn that I won.

The paper is long, probably pretty dull, and in such a tiny niche that I’d only recommend it for someone with at least a bit of experience in the area. For some support material, Natural kinds and the seminal works of Kripke and Putnam.

Download the paper.

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At: 06:16:58 AM
On: July 21
In: Science School
By: Tom Fadial

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Looks like I am the first to comment, which is very unusual for this blog on a post which is several days old. I hope this doesn’t mean I was the only one up to the challenge of reading a 20 page college essay on kinds!

That being said, I did read your essay, it was quite well done.

I had never really thought about the subject of “kinds” nor did I know it was a major area of controversy. I majored in engineering and never once heard anything on the subject.

It was a bit interesting but left me wondering, who cares? Not to say, who cares about your essay, but to say, who cares to study on and debate such a subject. I am assuming it was assigned reading, and course material in your case. As for the authors of the cited books, I am at a loss.

I always felt of kinds, such as gold, tigers, and hydrogen to be items understood by the people you are discussing them with for what they are. A consequence of language. Why is identifying different “kinds” so important?
Bryan Chain

Jul 23, 01:08 AM #
Thanks for reading it. I can’t say I’m surprised about the limited response, I don’t think I can read it again.

Bryan Chain: It was a bit interesting but left me wondering, who cares? Not to say, who cares about your essay, but to say, who cares to study on and debate such a subject. I am assuming it was assigned reading, and course material in your case. As for the authors of the cited books, I am at a loss.

Honestly, I found myself asking the same question when I was in the class. The literature we were reading was often so tedious, both conceptually and terminologically, that I felt the authors had just lost their minds. I still don’t know if this justifies the almost complete lack of practical applications, but the topic does combine a bunch of interesting fields. There’s stuff in there in the philosophy of mind, language, sense, reference, and everything in between. Studying why and how we use natural kinds could be a huge breakthrough into understanding the way our minds work.
Thame

Jul 23, 08:48 AM #