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Main Author: Schindler, Samuel
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09069
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author Schindler, Samuel
author_facet Schindler, Samuel
contents Philosophers have spilled much ink over the discovery of ideas in the classical 'context of discovery'. However, there has been little engagement with the question of what constitutes a discovery of 'things in the world'. A much-overlooked answer to this question is provided by T.S. Kuhn. In this paper, I show that discoveries awarded with a Nobel Prize in Physics in the past 53 years accord with a basic premise of Kuhn's account and his distinction between two types of natural kind discoveries. I also draw normative conclusions for credit attribution in science.
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spellingShingle Two Types of Natural Kind Discovery: Nobel Meets Kuhn
Schindler, Samuel
History and Philosophy of Physics
Philosophers have spilled much ink over the discovery of ideas in the classical 'context of discovery'. However, there has been little engagement with the question of what constitutes a discovery of 'things in the world'. A much-overlooked answer to this question is provided by T.S. Kuhn. In this paper, I show that discoveries awarded with a Nobel Prize in Physics in the past 53 years accord with a basic premise of Kuhn's account and his distinction between two types of natural kind discoveries. I also draw normative conclusions for credit attribution in science.
title Two Types of Natural Kind Discovery: Nobel Meets Kuhn
topic History and Philosophy of Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.09069