A processual account of scientific definitions

How to understand definitions of polysemous concepts in the sciences has generated significant philosophical debate. In this paper, I extend pragmatist and inferentialist theories of scientific concepts to definitions and propose a processual approach to definitions, which views definitions as consisting of the activity of defining. I develop this into a specific framework called ‘the multiplex theory’ according to which defining is an organized process by which concept users integrate semantic resources into certain tasks in a way that regulates and develops the meaning of the concept. The theory is then exemplified by applying it to a case study in the origins-of-life debate.