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LOCATION:234 Moses Hall (Dennes Room)
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DTEND:20090917T180000
DTSTART:20090917T160000
UID:philosophy.berkeley.edu:events:555
DTSTAMP:20091124T124118
DESCRIPTION:It is widely assumed that scientific categories must obey stric
 t criteria in order to count as *natural kinds*: that kinds should\nhave ne
 cessary and sufficient membership conditions\; that the boundaries between 
 kinds be sharply distinguishable\; that kinds must appear in exact\, except
 ionless laws of nature. Yet molecular species are individuated in terms of 
 continuously variable quantities like bond lengths and bond angles\, sugges
 ting that the boundaries between molecular kinds are vague\, and chemical l
 aws express defeasible tendencies rather than universal regularities. Simil
 ar considerations apply for other chemical kinds*kinds of chemical species 
 or of reaction mechanisms\, for instance. Drawing on examples from biology 
 as well as chemistry\, Richard Boyd and Christopher Boyd propose a more lib
 eral\, and accurate\, conception of kinds and their role in science\, empha
 sizing the importance of approximations\, rules of thumb and moderately rel
 iable hunches in chemical prediction and explanation.
SUMMARY:Working Group in HPLMS\nRichard Boyd and Christopher Boyd\nNatural 
 kinds and ceteris paratis generalizations: In praise of hunches
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