Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:07:13.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Taxonomy and Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

A. Aaron Snyder
A. Aaron Snyder*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Taxonomy is not destiny. In the context of scientific theories, it is explanation rather than taxonomy which should play the leading role. (The domain of any theory consists not of mere items—as in philately or genealogy—but of phenomena.) Unless biological taxonomy is guided by underlying theory—presumably, evolutionary theory, genetics, and molecular biology—systematics risks degenerating into mere genealogy.

David Hull believes that certain taxa employed in history of science should be conceived on the model of biological species. He first discusses the nature of species, indicating (in 1.) what they are not— they are not “natural kinds“—and then (in 2.) what they are—i.e., they are “historical entities”, “chunks of the genealogical nexus” which are individuated in relation to some arbitrarily selected and quite often atypical “type specimen”. The connection between the two points, the negative and the positive, is that conspecificity is determined by actual spatiotemporal contacts of the sort required by descent, rather than by any putative similarities among conspecific organisms.

Type
Part X. Scientific Change And Evolutionary Biology
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1982 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1982 , 1982 , pp. 512 - 521
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 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.)

References

Dobzhansky, T. (1951). Genetics and the Origin of Species. 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1965). “The Effect of Essentialism on Taxonomy.” The British Journal for The Philosophy of Science 15: 314-316; 16: 1-18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1978). “A Matter of Individuality.” Philosophy of Science 45: 335-360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1981a). “The Principles of Biological Classification: The Use and Abuse of Philosophy.” In PSA 1978. Volume 2. Edited by Asquith, P.D. and Hacking, I.. East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association. Pages 130-153.Google Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1981b). “Kitts and Kitts and Caplan on Species.” Philosophy of Science 48: 141-152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1983). “Exemplars and Scientific Change.” In PSA 1983, Volume 2. Edited by Asquith, P.D. and Hacking, I.. East Lansing, MI: Philosophy of Science Association. Pages 479-503.Google Scholar
Mayr, E.; Linsley, E.G.; and Usinger, R. (1953). Methods and Principles of Systematic Zoology. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1963). Animal Species and Evolution. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1969). Principles of Systematic Zoology. New York: McGraw- Hill.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1982). The Growth of Biological Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, G.G., (1961). Principles of Animal Taxonomy. New York: Columbia University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar