Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T00:52:12.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Philosophy Versus Science: The Species Debate and the Practice of Taxonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2023

Alan G. Gross
Alan G. Gross*
Affiliation:
Purdue University Calumet
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Although generally informed by an intimate knowledge of evolutionary biology and taxonomy, the controversy over the nature of species is clearly philosophical; it consists almost entirely of the clarification of old, and the invention of new arguments for or against calling the species category a class, The debate seems firmly divided between those, like Kitts and Bernier, who see homo sapiens as a class, and those, like Hull and Ghiselin, who see it as an individual. In the first case, particular human beings are members; in the second case, parts. To the champions of class, the essentialists, each species can be defined by means of a unique set of necessary and sufficient conditions, and every organism can be placed without equivocation into a particular species. To the individualists, nothing could be further from the truth. As a contingent, product of evolution, each species shares that crucial characteristic of an individual, spacio-temporal identity; each is a chunk of genealogical nexus.

Type
Part VII. Biology
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1988 , Issue 1: Volume One: Contributed Papers 1988 , 1988 , pp. 223 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1988

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

Bernier, R. (1984). “The Species as an Individual: Facing Essentialism.” Systematic Zoology 33: 460–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brent, P. (1983). Charles Darwin: A Man of Enlarged Curiosity. New York: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Davis, T.J. and O’Neill, J.P. (1986). “A New Species of Antwren (Formicariidae: Herpsilochmus) from Peru, with Comments on the Systematics of other Members of the Genus.” The Wilson Bulletin 98: 337–352.Google Scholar
Drew, R.A.I. and Lambert, D.M. (1986). “On the Specific Status of Dacus (Bactrocera) aquilonis and D. (Bactrocera) tryoni (Diptera: Tephritidae).” Annals of the Entomological Society of America 79: 870–878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eldredge, N. (1982). “Introduction.” In Mayr, E., Systematics and the Origin of Species. New York: Columbia University Press. Pages xv–xxxvii.Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, J.W. and O’Neill, J.P. (1986). “Otus Petersoni, A New Screech-Owl from the Eastern Andes, With Systematic Notes on O. Columbianus and O. Ingens.” The Wilson Bulletin 98: 1–14.Google Scholar
Garrison, R.W. (1986). “The Genus Aphylla in Mexico and Central America, with a Description of a New Species, Aphylla angustifolia (Odonata: Gomphidae).” Annals of the Entomological Society of America 79: 938–944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghiselin, M.T. (1984). “’Definition,’ ‘Character,’ and Other Equivocal Terms.” Systematic Zoology 33: 104–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghiselin, M.T. (1987). “Species Concepts, Individuality, and Objectivity.” Biology and Philosophy 2: 127–44.Google Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1976). “Are Species Really Individuals?” Systematic Zoology 25: 174–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hull, D.L. (1987). “Genealogical Actors in Ecological Roles.” Biology and Philosophy 2: 168–184.Google Scholar
Johnston, M.C. (1986). “Phyllanthus barbarae (Euphorbiaceae), New Species from Southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico.” Systematic Botany 11: 35–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitts, D.B. (1983). “Can Baptism Alone Save a Species?” Systematic Zoology 32: 27–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klatzky, R.L. (1980). Human Memory: Structures and Processes. 2nd edn. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Lambert, P. (1986). “Northeast Pacific Holothurians of the Genus Parastichopus with a Description of a New Species, Parastichopus leukothele (Echinodermata).” Can. J. Zool. 64: 2266–2272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambdin, P.L. (1986). “Cerococcus citri (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Cerococcidae), a New Species of Scale Insect from China”, Annals of the Entomological Society of America 79: 369-71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsson, R. (1981). “A New Microsporidium Berwaldia singularis gen. et sp. nov. from Daphnia pulex and a Survey of Microsporidia Described from Cladocera,” Parasitology 83: 325–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovtrup, S. (1979). “The Evolutionary Species: Fact or Fiction?” Systematic Zoology 28: 386–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayr, E. (1987). “Answers to these Comments.” Biology and Philosophy 2: 212–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nietzsche, F. (1964 [1888]). The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Translated by Anthony M. Ludovici. The Complete Works. Edited by Levy, Oscar Vol. XV. New York: Russell and Russell.Google Scholar
Roe, A. (1953). The Making of a Scientist. Westport: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, A. (1987). “Why Does the Nature of Species Matter? Comments on Ghiselin and Mayr.” Biology and Philosophy 2: 192–197.Google Scholar
Shweder, R.A. (1984). “Anthropology’s Romantic Rebellion against the Enlightenment, or There“s More to Thinking than Reason and Evidence.” In Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion. Edited by Shweder, R.A. and LeVine, R.A. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pages 27–66.Google Scholar
Simons, E.L. and Bown, T.M.. (1984). “A New Species of Peratherium (Didelphidae; Polyprotodonta): The First African Marsupial.” J. Mamm. 65: 539–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B.P. (1986). “New Species of Eylais (Acari: Hydrachnellae: Eylaidae) Parasitic on Water Boatmen (Insecta: Hemiptera: Corixidae), and a Key to North American Larvae of the Subgenus Syneylais.” Can. J. Zool. 64: 2363–2369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stebbins, G.L. (1987). “Species Concepts: Semantics and Actual Situations.” Biology and Philosophy 2: 198–203.Google Scholar
Van der Werff, H. (1986). “A New Species of Caryodaphnopsis (Lauraceae) from Peru.” Systematic Botany 11: 415–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wozencraft, W.C. (1986). “A New Species of Striped Mongoose From Madagascar.” J. Mamm. 67: 561–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar