Ontological Breakthroughs and Individuation of Phenomena in the Natural and Human Sciences

A characteristic form of progress in the natural sciences consists in replacing one theory of a domain with another that posits a radically different ontology. I call such episodes “ontological breakthroughs”. They are possible because many natural phenomena can be individuated and re-identified through empirical procedures, enabling reference to remain stable even when explanatory categories change. Drawing on Wilhelm Dilthey, I argue that the situation is different in the human sciences. There, phenomena are individuated interpretively, and their identification cannot be detached from the conditions under which they become intelligible. This interpretive tether, I suggest, helps explain why progress in the human sciences does not take the form of ontological breakthroughs.