Title: The Mess We Make: On the Metaphysics of Artifact Kinds
By Nurbay Irmak (Philosophy, Boğaziçi University)
Date: Thursday, October 26, 2023
Time: 1530-1700
Room: H232
Abstract: According to natural kind essentialism there are certain properties essential to natural kinds. A similar view, artifact kind essentialism, is commonly held for artifactual kinds. According to artifact kind essentialism, artifactual kinds have essential properties that determine their conditions of membership. In this paper I explore and defend the possibility of a non-essentialist alternative for artifactual kind membership.
About the speaker: Nurbay Irmak is Associate Professor at Boğaziçi University. His research focuses on issues in metaphysics (especially social ontology and the ontology of artworks) and bio-ethics. He has been the recipient of TUBİTAK research fellowships in both these areas, and his research has been published in such journals as Philosophical Studies, Synthese, the Journal of Medical Ethics, and the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.
