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    Post-Lockean scientific essentialism (Kripke, Putnam) hol... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→It is impossible for humans to know that any quality or idea has a necessary connection with a real essence.

    Post-Lockean scientific essentialism (Kripke, Putnam) holds that natural kind terms rigidly designate real essences discoverable through empirical inquiry.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Water turned out to be H2O despite appearing colorless and tasteless, showing empirical inquiry reveals hidden essences.
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    • 2.Natural kind terms like 'gold' and 'tiger' pick out the same entities across possible worlds, indicating rigid designation.
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    • 3.Scientific progress depends on discovering real properties that explain observable phenomena, not mere linguistic conventions.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Essences posited by science (e.g., DNA) are theory-laden constructs, not theory-independent discoveries about nature itself.
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    • 2.Many natural kind boundaries depend on pragmatic human interests rather than objective metaphysical divisions in nature.
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    • 3.Rigid designation can explain reference without requiring that essences exist independently of our conceptual frameworks.
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    Related

    Essences posited by science (e.g., DNA) are theory-laden constructs, not theory-...It is impossible for humans to know that any quality or idea has a necessary con...Many natural kind boundaries depend on pragmatic human interests rather than obj...Natural kind terms like 'gold' and 'tiger' pick out the same entities across pos...
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    Rigid designation can explain reference without requiring that essences exist in...Scientific progress depends on discovering real properties that explain observab...Water turned out to be H2O despite appearing colorless and tasteless, showing em...

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    2 (1 for, 1 against)
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