Words, Species, and Kinds

Metaphysics 4 (1):18–31 (2021)
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Abstract

It has been widely argued that words are analogous to species such that words, like species, are natural kinds. In this paper, I consider the metaphysics of word-kinds. After arguing against an essentialist approach, I argue that word-kinds are homeostatic property clusters, in line with the dominant approach to other biological and psychological kinds.

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James (J.T.M.) Miller
Durham University

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