Recent work in cognitive psychology and experimental semantics indicates that people do not categorize natural kinds solely by virtue of their purported scientific essence. Two attempts have been made to explain away the data by appealing to the idea that participants in these studies are reasoning diagnostically. I will argue that an appeal to diagnostic reasoning will likely not help to explain away the data.
Keywords: Categorization; Concepts; Diagnostic reasoning; Experimental semantics; Psychological essentialism; Teleological essentialism.
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