Placing Knowledge in the World

The theory of knowledge as a natural kind holds that knowledge has a theoretical unity in the causal structure of the world. Since knowledge supports causal explanation and prediction, we can investigate knowledge empirically like other natural kinds such as water. But epistemological nihilism holds that knowledge does not have such a theoretical unity because we can always observe the diversity of knowledge. This paper aims to defend the theory of knowledge as a natural kind from epistemological nihilism. To do this, I will suggest that we can understand knowledge as a biological kind like species or organs, and then accommodate the diversity of knowledge to this viewpoint positively.