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The Species Problem

A Philosophical Analysis

Richard A. Richards (University of Alabama)

$139.95

Hardback

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English
Cambridge University Press
01 July 2010
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.

By:  
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 235mm,  Width: 160mm,  Spine: 17mm
Weight:   540g
ISBN:   9780521196833
ISBN 10:   0521196833
Series:   Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology
Pages:   248
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Richard A. Richards is Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama. He has published in major journals on a variety of topics in the philosophy of science and biology, including phylogenetic inference, theory of choice, taxonomy, and species concepts. He has also written extensively on Darwin's views about artificial selection and domestic breeding, and contributed to The Cambridge Companion to the Origins of Species (Cambridge, 2009).

Reviews for The Species Problem: A Philosophical Analysis

'... an entertaining read and well organized ... a launching off point for a new direction in studying the species problem.' Metascience ... useful to those theoretically oriented biologists ... Recommended ... F. S. Szalay, University of New Mexico Richards examines the species problem and the philosophical questions it raises, aiming at understanding the different ways of thinking about species from Aristotle to modern biological systematics, and how we might better think about species ... This book makes a substantial contribution to scholarship on species. Thus, I recommend it highly. Review of Contemporary Philosophy ... an entertaining read and well organized ... a launching off point for a new direction in studying the species problem. Metascience


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