UID:
almafu_9960118719402883
Format:
1 online resource (ix, 302 pages) :
,
digital, PDF file(s).
ISBN:
1-316-94429-8
,
1-316-94205-8
,
1-107-58823-5
Series Statement:
Cambridge introductions to philosophy and biology
Content:
Modern biological classification is based on the system developed by Linnaeus, and interpreted by Darwin as representing the tree of life. But despite its widespread acceptance, the evolutionary interpretation has some problems and limitations. This comprehensive book provides a single resource for understanding all the main philosophical issues and controversies about biological classification. It surveys the history of biological classification from Aristotle to contemporary phylogenetics and shows how modern biological classification has developed and changed over time. Readers will also be able to see how biological classification is in part a consequence of human psychology, language development and culture. The book will be valuable for student readers and others interested in a range of topics in philosophy and biology.
Note:
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 06 Sep 2016).
,
Cover -- Half-title -- Series information -- Title page -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Table of contents -- List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 Why Classify? -- Classification and the Diversity of Life -- The Anthropology of Classification -- The Psychology of Classification -- Kinds of Kinds -- A Puzzle -- 2 The Aristotelian Framework -- The Essentialism Story -- The Aristotelian Framework -- The Transformation of Aristotle -- Universals -- Conclusion: Two Themes -- 3 The Darwinian Pivot -- The Return of Empirical Thinking -- Aristotle Returns? -- Language and Error -- The Linnaean System -- Buffon versus Linnaeus -- The Nineteenth Century -- The Darwinian Revolution -- Character Classification -- A Darwinian Paradox -- Trends and Tensions -- 4 Evolutionary Taxonomy and the Cladistic Challenge -- The Modern Synthesis -- Grouping and Ranking in Evolutionary Taxonomy -- Character Classification in Evolutionary Taxonomy -- Phenetics -- Hennigian Cladistics -- Cladistic Clades -- The Transformation of Cladistics -- Philosophical Issues -- 5 The Tree of Life -- Tree Thinking Before Darwin -- Trees after Darwin -- The Tree of Life -- Ranking and the Tree of Life -- Fossils and Ancestors -- Gene Trees -- Horizontal Gene Transfer -- Rethinking the Tree of Life -- 6 The Species Problem -- The Species Category -- The Species Problem -- Varieties of Pluralism -- The Problem with Microbes -- Conclusion: Are Species Real? -- 7 The Metaphysics of Biological Classification -- Metaphysics -- The Metaphysics of Species -- Natural Kinds Framework -- Cluster Kinds -- Historical Kinds -- Species as Individuals -- Individuality -- Sets or Individuals? -- Higher Taxa -- Conclusion -- 8 Theory and the World -- Two Methodological Stances -- The Baconian Ideal -- Observation and Theory -- The Theory Theory.
,
The Problem with Theories -- The Pragmatics of Classification -- Conclusion: The Two Faces of Classification -- 9 The Essential Tension -- The History of Biological Classification -- A Puzzle -- A Fundamental Tension -- References -- Index.
Additional Edition:
ISBN 1-107-06537-2
Additional Edition:
ISBN 1-107-68784-5
Language:
English
URL:
Volltext
(URL des Erstveröffentlichers)
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107588233
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107588233
