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Kuhn's Account Of Family Resemblance: A Solution To The Problem Of Wide-Open Texture

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Abstract

It is a commonly raised argument against thefamily resemblance account of concepts that, on thisaccount, there is no limit to a concept's extension.An account of family resemblance which attempts toprovide a solution to this problem by including bothsimilarity among instances and dissimilarity tonon-instances has been developed by the philosopher ofscience Thomas Kuhn. Similar solutions have beenhinted at in the literature on family resemblanceconcepts, but the solution has never received adetailed investigation. I shall provide areconstruction of Kuhn's theory and argue that hissolution necessitates a developmental perspective withbuilds on both the transmission of taxonomies betweengenerations and a progressive development throughhistory.

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  1. Department of Medical Philosophy and Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Panum Institute, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    Hanne Andersen

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  1. Hanne Andersen
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Andersen, H. Kuhn's Account Of Family Resemblance: A Solution To The Problem Of Wide-Open Texture. Erkenntnis 52, 313–337 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005546300818

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