The curious role of natural kind terms

Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 83 (1):81–101 (2002)
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Abstract

The semantics of natural kind terms has recently been seen as a problem of reference. Kripke and Putnam have suggested that their meaning begins with rigid designation, with any further implications emerging after empirical study. I part ways with this approach and instead offer an account that focuses on the contribution that these terms make to the inferential roles of different sorts of sentences. I note that natural kind terms play an odd array of grammatical roles, both as subject and as parts of predicates, and explain why this dual role contributes something pragmatically significant to explanations of natural phenomena.

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Michael Wolf
Washington and Jefferson College

Citations of this work

Are natural kind terms special?Åsa Wikforss - 2010 - In Helen Beebee & Nigel Sabbarton-Leary, The Semantics and Metaphysics of Natural Kinds. New York: Routledge.
An ontology of weak entity realism for HPC kinds.Reuben Sass - 2021 - Synthese 198 (12):11861-11880.
Rigid Designation and Anaphoric Theories of Reference.Michael P. Wolf - 2006 - Philosophical Studies 130 (2):351-375.

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