Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T04:19:03.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Species and Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Laurance J. Splitter
Laurance J. Splitter*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy University of Wollongong
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to test the contemporary concept of biological species against some of the problems caused by treating species as spatiotemporally extended entities governed by criteria of persistence, identity, etc. After outlining the general problem of symmetric division in natural objects, I set out some useful distinctions (section 1) and confirm that species are not natural kinds (section 2). Section 3 takes up the separate issue of species definition, focusing on the Biological Species Concept (BSC). Sections 4 and 5 examine the matter of species identity over space and time respectively, as determined by the BSC. Both gradualistic and punctuated equilibrium models of speciation are discussed. In section 6 I argue that the BSC fails to determine adequate criteria for dealing with certain kinds of speciation. Section 7 moves speculatively beyond the BSC to a brief examination of alternatives.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , September 1988 , pp. 323 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 by the Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

I would like to thank David Hull, Philip Kitcher, Elliott Sober and referees of this journal for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper.

References

REFERENCES

Dobzhansky, T. (1970), Genetics of the Evolutionary Process. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Dupré, J. (1981), “Natural Kinds and Biological Taxa”, Philosophical Review 90: 66–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehrlich, P. R., and Raven, P. H. (1969), “Differentiation of Populations”, Science 165: 1228–1232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eldredge, N. (1979), “Alternative Approaches to Evolutionary Theory”, Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 13: 7–19.Google Scholar
Eldredge, N., and Gould, S. J. (1972), “Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism”, in T. J. M. Schopf (ed.), Models in Paleobiology. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Co., pp. 82–115.Google Scholar
Eldredge, N., and Tattersall, I. (1982), The Myths of Human Evolution. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gale, R. M. (1984), “Wiggins's Thesis D(x)”, Philosophical Studies 45: 239–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghiselin, M. T. (1966), “On Psychologism in the Logic of Taxonomic Controversies”, Systematic Zoology 26: 207–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghiselin, M. T. (1969), The Triumph of the Darwinian Method. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ghiselin, M. T. (1974), “A Radical Solution to the Species Problem”, Systematic Zoology 23: 536–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giray, E. F. (1976), “An Integrated Biological Approach to the Species Problem”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 27: 317–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J. (1980a), “The Promise of Paleobiology as a Nomothetic, Evolutionary Discipline”, Paleobiology 6(1): 96–118.10.1017/S0094837300012537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J. (1980b), “Is a New and General Theory of Evolution Emerging?”, Paleobiology 6(1): 119–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J. (1980c), “The Episodic Nature of Evolutionary Change”, in S. J. Gould, The Panda's Thumb. New York: Norton and Company, pp. 179–185.Google Scholar
Gould, S. J., and Eldredge, N. (1977), “Punctuated Equilibria: The Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered”, Paleobiology 3: 115–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, V. (1971), Plant Speciation. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Hennig, W. (1966), Phylogenetic Systematics. Davis, D. D. and Zangerl, R. (trans.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1964–1965), “The Effect of Essentialism on Taxonomy—Two Thousand Years of Stasis (1) and (2)”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 15: 314–326 and 16: 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1968), “The Operational Imperative—Sense and Nonsense in Operationalism”, Systematic Zoology 17: 438–457.10.2307/2412042CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1970), “Contemporary Systematic Philosophies”, in M. Grene and E. Mendelsohn (eds.), Topics in the Philosophy of Biology. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, pp. 396–440.Google Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1975), “Central Subjects and Historical Narratives”, History and Theory 14: 253–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1976), “Are Species Really Individuals?”, Systematic Zoology 25: 174–191.10.2307/2412744CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1977), “The Ontological Status of Species as Evolutionary Units”, in R. Butts and J. Hintikka (eds.), Foundational Problems in the Special Sciences. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, pp. 91–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1978), “A Matter of Individuality”, Philosophy of Science 45: 335–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1979), “The Limits of Cladism”, Systematic Zoology 28: 417–438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1980), “Individuality and Selection”, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 11: 311–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1981a), “Kitts and Kitts and Caplan on Species”, Philosophy of Science 48: 141–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D. L. (1981b), “Units of Evolution—A Metaphysical Essay”, in R. Harre and U. Jensen (eds.), Philosophy of Evolution. London: Harvester, pp. 23–44.Google Scholar
Kitcher, P. (1982), “Species”. Unpublished manuscript.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitcher, P. (1984a), “Species”, Philosophy of Science 51: 308–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitcher, P. (1984b), “Against the Monism of the Moment: A Reply to Elliott Sober”, Philosophy of Science 51: 616–630.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kripke, S. A. (1980), Naming and Necessity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Lehman, H. (1967), “Are Biological Species Real?”, Philosophy of Science 34: 157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, H. (1970), “Reply to Munson”, Philosophy of Science 37: 125–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehman, H. (1971), “Classification and Explanation in Biology”, Taxon 20: 257–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, D. K. (1976), “Survival and Identity”, in A. O. Rorty (ed.), The Identities of Persons. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 17–40.Google Scholar
Love, A. (1961), “Taxonomy and Chromosomes—A Reiteration”, Feddes Reportorium 62: 192–202.Google Scholar
Lowe, E. J. (1983), “On the Identity of Artifacts”, Journal of Philosophy 80: 220–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1957a), “Species Concepts and Definitions”, in E. Mayr (ed.), The Species Problem. Washington D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pub. 50, pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1957b), “Difficulties and Importance of the Biological Species Concept”, in Mayr (ed.), The Species Problem, pp. 371–388.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1959), “Isolation as an Evolutionary Factor”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 103: 221–230.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1963), Animal Species and Evolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1969), “The Biological Meaning of Species”, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 1: 311–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1970), Populations, Species and Evolution. Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1974), “Cladistic Analysis or Cladistic Classification”, Z. Zool. Syst. Evolutionsforschung 12: 95–128.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1975), “The Unity of the Genotype”, Biologisches Zentralblatt 94: 377–388.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1982), The Growth of Biological Thought. Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Meglitsch, P. A. (1954), “On the Nature of the Species”, Systematic Zoology 3: 49–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nozick, R. (1981), Philosophical Explanations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Parfit, D. (1984), Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Pratt, V. (1972), “Biological Classification”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 23: 305–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, D. (1985), “Can Amoebae Divide Without Multiplying?”, Australasian Journal of Philosophy 63: 299–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruse, M. (1969), “Definitions of Species in Biology”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 20: 97–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruse, M. (1973), The Philosophy of Biology. London: Hutchinson University Library.Google Scholar
Simpson, G. G. (1961), Principles of Animal Taxonomy. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sober, E. (1980), “Evolution, Population Thinking, and Essentialism”, Philosophy of Science 47: 350–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sober, E. (1984), “Discussion: Sets, Species, and Evolution: Comments on Philip Kitcher's ‘Species‘”, Philosophy of Science 51: 334–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sokal, R. R., and Crovello, T. J. (1970), “The Biological Species Concept: A Critical Evaluation”, American Naturalist 104: 127–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonneborn, T. M. (1957), “Breeding Systems, Reproductive Methods and Species Problems in Protozoa”, in E. Mayr (ed.), The Species Problem, pp. 155–324.Google Scholar
Splitter, L. J. (1983), “Natural Kinds and Biological Species”. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Stebbins, G. L. (1959), “The Role of Hybridization in Evolution”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 103: 231–251.Google Scholar
Van Valen, L. (1976), “Ecological Species, Multispecies and Oaks”, Taxon 25: 233–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiggins, D. (1980), Sameness and Substance. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wiley, E. O. (1978), “The Evolutionary Species Concept Reconsidered”, Systematic Zoology 27: 17–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiley, E. O. (1981), Phylogenetics. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Williams, B. (1973), Problems of the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar