https://at-ceu.studyguide.timeedit.net/modules/PHIL5202?type=COREWe group individuals into kinds, but which of these kinds reflect structures in the world worthy to be called "natural kinds"? This question guides the content of this course. Even though the terminology of 'natural kinds' got introduced rather recently (in the 19th century), philosophical thought about natural kinds is present already in Greek Antiquity. Since Plato's Phaedrus thinking about natural kinds has revolved around a famous carnivorous metaphor: how to carve the world 'at its joints'? This intensive 4-credit course, offered across two terms, deals with this idea of natural kinds. We will study how the idea developed in philosophical theory and how it relates to actual kind thinking (categorization, classification) in science and society. The fall term will be dedicated to philosophical theories about natural kinds. After a systematic in-depth introduction in Session 1-4, we will discuss some classic contributions (e.g., Locke, Mill) (Session 5-8), to then study some influential contemporary approaches (Session 9-12). In the winter term, students will build on the theoretical knowledge acquired in the fall term and develop their own case studies on specific kinds of kinds (e.g. chemical kinds, biological kinds, human kinds, psychological kinds, social kinds, artifactual kinds, etc.) to further investigate in which sense these are 'natural' or not. We will start the winter term with one or two sessions revisiting the theoretical aspects that we discussed in fall. A workshop on how to use case studies in philosophy will then prepare students for that skill (know-how), which will then be practiced in the following sections. Overall, the aim is to deepen our understanding of categorization and classification (thinking in terms of kinds) as core epistemic practices, used in everyday cognition as well as in sciences (including social sciences and humanities). We will investigate ontological, epistemological, linguistic and social aspects of thinking about and with natural kinds. That way a diversity of research interests of students (including the questions that arise for students in their own MA or PhD research) can be integrated, e.g., issues related to essentialism, causation, laws of nature, categorization, concepts, classification systems, kind terms, the social philosophy of exclusion and inclusion of individuals via classification (reflexivity, subjectivity and normativity of classifying people), etc.