Carving joints into nature: reengineering scientific concepts in light of concept-laden evidence

A new wave of proposals suggests that scientists must reassess scientific con-cepts in light of accumulated evidence. However, reengineering scientific con-cepts in light of data is challenging because scientific concepts affect the evidence itself in multiple ways. Among other possible influences, concepts (i) prime scientists to overemphasize within-concept similarities and between-concept differences; (ii) lead scientists to measure conceptually relevant dimen-sions more accurately; (iii) serve as units of scientific experimentation, communi-cation, and theory-building; and (iv) affect the phenomena themselves. When looking for improved ways to carve nature at its joints, scholars must take the concept-laden nature of evidence into account to avoid entering a vicious circle of concept-evidence mutual substantiation.