Morphology, Knowledge and understanding. prolegomena to a pluralist manifesto

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is to tentatively investigate how a family-resemblance approach to concepts might be applied to the related notions of knowledge and understanding, with the aim of deflating or redressing ongoing debates surrounding each. Given that the concept of family-resemblance is frequently misinterpreted, and there is a prevailing tendency to revert to more conventional methods of conceptual analysis, the paper offers a comprehensive overview of the notion. To lay the groundwork, it traces the origins of family-resemblance to Goethe's morphological method, illustrating the approach with an example from botany. It then presents a family-resemblance account of the concept of knowledge and understanding.