Seminar with Francesco Guala (University of Milan, Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Philosophy) - Social Kinds: Historical and Multi-Functional.
The seminar will be a hybrid meeting. It will be held both in the room 28 in Institute of Philosophy, Grodzka 52 and on a Zoom/Teams [registration required] on June 14, 2022.
Registration for on-line participants: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seminar-with-francesco-guala-hybrid-1406-530pm-tickets-361657556487
Abstract:
Can social scientists formulate theories that hold across historical lineages or traditions? If social kinds are historical kinds, as Millikan and others have argued, the answer must be 'no'. But social scientists do make general, a-historical theoretical claims. The notion of multi-functional kind is introduced to account for this practice. Multi-functional kinds are neither eternal nor purely historical, support non-trivial inductive generalisations, and allow to overcome scepticism about the inductive potential of multiply realised (functional) properties. Two examples, from monetary economics and anthropology, provide support for a pluralistic ontology of the social world.
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The event is part of Krakow Seminars in Law, Language and Philosophy, organized by Jagiellonian Centre for Law, Language and Philosophy. The event is part of the Philosophy of Language, Social Ontology, and Contemporary Legal Theory Research Platform (POB Heritage JU Grant) which includes team members from Insitut Jean Nicod, University of Milan, University of Lisbon, Zagreb University along with the Jagiellonian University Krakow.
