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Dual character concepts
Author(s) -
Reuter Kevin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
philosophy compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.973
H-Index - 25
ISSN - 1747-9991
DOI - 10.1111/phc3.12557
Subject(s) - character (mathematics) , normative , dual (grammatical number) , categorization , friendship , happiness , dimension (graph theory) , epistemology , natural (archaeology) , relation (database) , class (philosophy) , focus (optics) , psychology , sociology , computer science , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , physics , geometry , archaeology , database , pure mathematics , optics , history
Some of philosophy's most central concepts, including art , friendship , and happiness , have been argued to be dual character concepts. Their main characteristic is that they encode not only a descriptive dimension but also an independent normative dimension for categorization. This article introduces the class of dual character concepts and discusses various accounts of their content and structure. A specific focus will be placed on their relation to two other classes of concepts, thick concepts and natural kind concepts. The study of dual character concepts not only demonstrates that a wide range of concepts is inherently normative, but it also reveals new possibilities for investigating gender biases, generics, and social roles.