ABSTRACT
The idea of a natural kind has a complicated history full of controversies and confusions. It would seem that, at least within one tradition, the idea purports to be of something that plays connected metaphysical and epistemological roles. 2 First, metaphysically, natural kinds are “mind-independent” and they constitute “the world’s joints.” Second, epistemologically, good explanation depends on tracking natural kinds. Because natural kinds are responsible for the structure and behavior of the world, our explanations of how the world works can only be adequate if they capture this structure. If we further assume that sometimes we come up with good explanations, it must be that we are in a position to have knowledge of at least some of the natural kinds.
