PHIL 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Nominalism, Natural Kind, Big Bang
Document Summary
Ontology: our inventory of what is real, what the world is really made up of. Ontology of physics: planets, asteroids, electrons, neutrons and protons, as well as other families of subatomic particles. Ontology of biology: double helical dna, bacteria, viruses, phytoplankton, natural selection and random genetic mutation, mitosis, meiosis, sexual reproduction. Ontology of chemistry: periodic table of elements. Ontology of geology: tectonic plates, ancient rock formations, layered strata. What we get from ontology of natural sciences s the discovery of the worlds natural kinds, the things that are out there in the universe, independent of human minds and intervention. Periodic table is a collection of natural kinds social kinds: which are real, but not natural, i. e money, it is an invention but real stuff, haslanger gives the example of landlords as a social kind. Describing someone by race and gender: situate them in a framework of meaning to indicate social norms that govern interaction.