ABSTRACT
What influence do systems of classification have on the construction of worldviews? How far do such systems form the basic and unchallenged presuppositions of such worldviews, or to what extent are they the subject of conscious reflection and criticism on the part of those who use them? Classificatory systems have been extensively studied by social anthropologists, cognitive scientists, philosophers, linguists, and historians. My aim here is to see what light the comparative data can throw on some of the philosophical issues traditionally discussed under the rubrics of the conflict between realism and relativism, the (in)commensurability of belief systems, and the relation between science and popular belief. I sketch a preliminary argument (to be elaborated elsewhere) on the multidimensionality of reality, which may help to resolve, or at least to clarify, some of the problems.
