There is long-standing disagreement among systematists about how to divide biodiversity into species. Over twenty different species concepts are used to group organisms, according to criteria as diverse as morphological or molecular similarity, interbreeding and genealogical relationships. This, combined with the implications of evolutionary biology, raises the worry that either there is no single kind of species, or that species are not real. This book surveys the history of thinking about species from Aristotle to modern systematics in order to understand the origin of the problem, and advocates a solution based on the idea of the division of conceptual labor, whereby species concepts function in different ways - theoretically and operationally. It also considers related topics such as individuality and the metaphysics of evolution, and how scientific terms get their meaning. This important addition to the current debate will be essential for philosophers and historians of science, and for biologists.
Author(s): Richard A. Richards
Series: Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 248
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 12
The species idea......Page 13
Species groupings......Page 14
The species problem......Page 16
Significance of the species problem......Page 17
Realism and pluralism......Page 22
The solution......Page 25
The Essentialism Story......Page 29
Aristotle and the logic of division......Page 32
Aristotle’s functional essentialism......Page 37
Understanding the Essentialism Story......Page 43
Aristotle transformed......Page 46
Species as universals......Page 51
Conclusion......Page 58
The Essentialism Story redux......Page 61
Renaissance naturalists......Page 62
Linnaeus......Page 68
Buffon and historical species......Page 74
The Darwinian challenge......Page 82
The Essentialism Story......Page 87
The Darwinian species paradox......Page 90
Interpreting Darwin......Page 93
Species and varieties......Page 98
The modern synthesis......Page 108
After the synthesis......Page 116
The species problem now......Page 122
Skeptical solutions to the species problem......Page 125
Species of pluralism......Page 127
Hierarchical pluralism......Page 131
Whewellian consilience......Page 136
Consilience of species concepts......Page 142
Theoretical species concepts......Page 143
Operational concepts......Page 147
Correspondence rules and the species problem......Page 151
Conclusion......Page 153
Introduction: species concepts and metaphysics......Page 157
Natural kinds and essences......Page 161
Property cluster kinds......Page 166
Species as individuals......Page 170
Evaluating individuality......Page 174
Cohesive capacity......Page 177
Species as historical kinds......Page 180
Sets versus individuals......Page 182
Conclusion......Page 188
Meaning and reference......Page 190
Definitional structure......Page 192
The “theory theory”......Page 194
The causal theory......Page 197
Referential vagueness......Page 199
The return of theory......Page 202
Eidos and species......Page 205
Biology and theology......Page 208
The division of linguistic labor and the demic structure of science......Page 214
A recap......Page 217
Darwinian evolution......Page 220
Pluralisms......Page 222
The solution to the species problem......Page 226
Human nature......Page 229
A historical metaphysics......Page 232
Bibliography......Page 233
Index......Page 243
