The Species Problem Biological Species, Ontology, and the Metaphysics of Biology

by Stamos, David N.

• ISBN13: 9780739107782
• ISBN10: 073910778X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-09
• Publisher: LEXINGTON BOOKS

Summary

Stamos squarely confronts the problem of determining what a biological species is, whether species are real, and the nature of their reality. He critically considers the evolution of the major contemporary views of species and also offers his own solution to the species problem.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 The Species Problem and the Problem of Universals	1	(9)
1.2 Ontology and Criteria of Reality	10	(8)
1.3 Preliminary Assumptions and Concepts	18	(3)
1.4 Abstract of the Book	21	(10)
Chapter 2. Species Nominalism
2.1 Preliminary Considerations	31	(4)
2.2 Occam and Locke	35	(12)
2.3 Buffon, Lamarck, and Darwin	47	(27)
2.4 Modern Nominalists in Biology	74	(25)
Chapter 3. Species as Classes
3.1 Plato, Aristotle, and Linnaeus	99	(14)
3.2 Species as Elementary Classes	113	(10)
3.3 Species as Cluster Classes	123	(20)
3.4 Species as Ecological Niches	143	(22)
3.5 Problems with Species as Classes	165	(16)
Chapter 4. Species as Individuals
4.1 Precursors from Hegel to Mayr	181	(24)
4.2 Ghiselin, Hull, et al.	205	(15)
4.3 Punctuated Equilibria	220	(11)
4.4 Problems with Species as Individuals	231	(21)
4.5 Species as Sets, Clades, and Lineages	252	(33)
Chapter 5. Species as Relations
5.1 The Origin of an Idea	285	(11)
5.2 Species as Biosimilarity Complexes	296	(30)
5.3 Problems with Species as Relations	326	(26)
5.4 Concluding Remarks	352	(5)
References	357	(18)
Index	375	(6)
About the Author	381