A philosophical inquiry into the character of material artifacts

Abstract

This paper aims to display the versatility of Karl Popper's thesis of three worlds in the analysis of issues related to the ontological status and character of material artifacts. Despite being discussed over years and hit with numerous criticisms it was hardly ever noticed that Popper's thesis provides excellent insights into the philosophical account of artifacts. There are two sections in this paper. The first section presents a critical exposition of Popper's account of reality and (partial) autonomy of artifacts. The second section consists of two arguments. The first argument focuses on the composition and characteristics of material artifacts and the second one emphasizes their creative and epistemic aspects.