
Natural Kinds and the Science of Perception
Carving the Mind at the Joints
Henry Taylor(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 14. May 2026
Book
Hardback
240 pages
978-0-19-899505-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book brings research on taxonomy and natural kinds from the philosophy of science to bear on the science of perception. It defends a novel version of the property cluster view of natural kinds and uses it to explore many puzzling features of perception and cognition. It makes the case that natural kindhood is important for philosophers of perception, the methodology of psychology, and first-order issues in psychology itself.
One of the book's central case studies is working memory. It contends that working memory is a natural kind, and that the natural kindhood of working memory can shed new light on the debate about the link between working memory and consciousness. Another core focus is consciousness in early life. The volume maintains that natural kinds are crucial for the question of when consciousness emerges in infancy. It uses the machinery of natural kinds to outline and defend a methodology for ascertaining when consciousness emerges in babies and infants.
Finally, the book explores the link between natural kindhood and conceptual reform in psychology. It argues that psychological concepts that fail to refer to a natural kind ought to be eliminated from psychology.
One of the book's central case studies is working memory. It contends that working memory is a natural kind, and that the natural kindhood of working memory can shed new light on the debate about the link between working memory and consciousness. Another core focus is consciousness in early life. The volume maintains that natural kinds are crucial for the question of when consciousness emerges in infancy. It uses the machinery of natural kinds to outline and defend a methodology for ascertaining when consciousness emerges in babies and infants.
Finally, the book explores the link between natural kindhood and conceptual reform in psychology. It argues that psychological concepts that fail to refer to a natural kind ought to be eliminated from psychology.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
426 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-899505-0 (9780198995050)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Henry Taylor is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham. He obtained his PhD from the University of Durham in 2015 and he was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge from 2015 to 2017. He has broad research interests, particularly in the philosophy of psychology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of technology. He is especially interested in attention, consciousness, natural kinds, powers, and robotics.
Author
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham
Content
1: Natural Kinds in Psychology 2: Natural Kinds and Property Clusters: Why Long-Term Memory Is a Natural Kind 3: Property Clusters: In Defence of a Liberal Approach 4: The Path to Eliminativism? Natural Kinds and Conceptual Reform in Psychology 5: The Two Visual Streams Hypothesis: Two Natural Kinds? 6: Is Vision a Natural Kind? 7: The Mind's Central Station: The Science of Working Memory 8: Working Memory, Vagueness, and Consciousness 9: The First Light: Natural Kinds and Baby Consciousness 10: Infant Consciousness: When Does It Arise?