On the Semantics of Artifactual Kind Terms

By irene.olivero | Updated: July 13, 2024, 6:42 a.m.

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On the Semantics of Artifactual Kind Terms
Authors: Irene Olivero and Massimiliano Carrara
A publication by Philosophy Compass
link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/phc3.12778#
Sept 2021
open access
chair
sofa
table
lamp
pencil
Artifacts
cup
'chair'
'sofa'
'table'
'lamp'
Artifactual Kind Terms
'pencil'
'cup'
How do artifactual kind terms refer?
Do they refer like natural kind terms do?
'leaf'
'horse'
'dog'
'gold'
'water'
Natural kinds
Natural kind terms
How do natural kind terms refer?
How does the term 'water' refer?
Earth
Twin Earth
H20
XYZ
What would you say?
'water'
Earth
Twin Earth
water
not water
H20
water
Because the liquid on Twin Earth does not share the same nature (i.e., chemical formula) of the paradigmatic samples of water
Would you say that 'water' refers to both the liquids on Earth and on Twin Earth?
Let's call this stuff here 'water'!
Once found out that water is H2O, nothing else counts as water
Introduction of Natural Kind Terms
This semantic theory, Direct Referentialism, was defended by Hilary Putnam in 1975
Cf. "The Meaning of 'Meaning'" 
Do artifactual terms refer in the same way?
Earth
Twin Earth
artifact
organism
pencil
Would you say that 'pencil' refers to both the objects on Earth and on Twin Earth?
This question gave rise to an ongoing debate...
Descriptivists: Yes!
Direct referentialists: No!
On the Semantics of Artifactual Kind Terms
This article aims to provide a thorough and reasoned overview of this debate, pointing out its trends and problems.
link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/phc3.12778#
(open access)
video by Irene Olivero
by Irene Olivero and Massimiliano Carrara
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On the Semantics of Artifactual Kind Terms

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