Haueis, Philipp (2021) A Generalized Patchwork Approach to Scientific Concepts. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Polysemous concepts with multiple related meanings pervade natural languages, yet some philosophers argue that we should eliminate them to avoid miscommunication and pointless debates in scientific discourse. This paper defends the legitimacy of polysemous concepts in science against this eliminativist challenge. My approach analyses such concepts as patch-works with multiple scale-dependent, technique-involving, domain-specific and property-targeting uses (patches). I demonstrate the generality of my approach by applying it to "hard-ness" in materials science, "homology" in evolutionary biology, "gold" in chemistry and "cor-tical column" in neuroscience. Such patchwork concepts are legitimate if the techniques used to apply them produce reliable results, the domains to which they are applied are homogenous, and the properties they refer to are significant to describe, classify or explain the behavior of entities in the extension of the concept. By following these normative constraints, researchers can avoid miscommunication and pointless debates without having to eliminate polysemous patchwork concepts in scientific discourse.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Haueis, Philipp philipp.haueis@uni-bielefeld.de 0000-0002-0935-9015
Keywords:	Concepts, Polysemy, Patchwork Concepts, Eliminativism, Pluralism
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Concepts and Representations General Issues > Natural Kinds General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Depositing User:	Dr. Philipp Haueis
Date Deposited:	02 Aug 2022 03:09
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2022 03:09
Item ID:	21006
Official URL:	https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/7161...
DOI or Unique Handle:	https://doi.org/10.1086/716179
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science > Concepts and Representations General Issues > Natural Kinds General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Date:	23 June 2021
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21006

Available Versions of this Item

• A Generalized Patchwork to Scientific Concepts. (deposited 09 Jul 2021 15:01)
  • A Generalized Patchwork Approach to Scientific Concepts. (deposited 02 Aug 2022 03:09) [Currently Displayed]

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