The science of systematics 9 May 2009 As the science of order (“taxonomy”), Systematics is a pure science of relations, unconcerned with time, space, or cause. Unconcerned with time: systematics is non-historic and essentially static; it knows only a simple juxtaposition of different conditions of form. Unconcerned with space: geographical factors are not primary criteria in the definition of taxonomic units. Unconcerned with cause: systematics has no explanatory function as far as the origin of the system is concerned; it is merely comparing, determining, and classifying. Borgmeier, Thomas. 1957. Basic Questions of Systematics. Systematic Zoology 6 (2):53-69. Science Species and systematics
Biology Names and nomenclature in classification 17 Jul 2010 One of the main focuses in the literature, especially in biology, regarding classification is the problem of nomenclature, of names. Many treat classification as being all about names, an error that is akin to mistaking not the map for the territory, but the names on the map for the territory…. Read More
Philosophy A conversation about scientific evolution 14 Jul 2010 I recently had an interesting exchange with an anonymous poster called “Himself” on the talk.origins USENet group. I thought I’d put it up here with some links and the typos corrected. Since it’s visible on Google Groups, I’m not breaking any copyright here. Read More
Biology What counts as “unique”? 25 Nov 2009 I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes something unique. Since Aristotle we have described something as unique if all its properties are special to it, but I don’t like property talk because I tend to think that it biases our thinking towards linguistic problems and solutions. I don’t… Read More