Biological Essentialism - Couverture rigide

Devitt, Michael

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0198840284 ISBN 13 : 9780198840282

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2023

Synopsis

Biological Essentialism addresses three main issues. The first concerns the essences (natures, identities) of biological taxa, particularly species. Kripke and other metaphysicians hold that these essences are (at least partly) intrinsic, underlying, probably largely genetic properties. This view, based largely on intuitions, is dismissed by the consensus in the philosophy of biology as being incompatible with Darwinism and reflecting ignorance of biology. Biological Essentalism argues that the demands of biological explanation show that the metaphysicians are right. The positive view of the consensus is that the essences are wholly relational: taxa must have certain histories. Biological Essentialism argues that there is indeed an historical component to the essence, but this component presupposes an intrinsic component. Its second issue concerns the essences of biological individuals. Metaphysicians have had much to say about this, again on the basis of intuitions. Many hold that an individual is essentially a member of its species. This has recently been unequivocally rejected by philosophers of biology. Biological Essentialism appeals to biological explanation again to argue for essential membership; furthermore, to argue for the Kripkean view that an organism's essence is partly intrinsic and partly relational (a matter of origin). Finally, the book addresses the lively contemporary issue of whether race is biologically “real”. From the perspective developed earlier, the book argues that there are indeed racial kinds, in some sense, that are “in the realm of the biological”. These kinds also have partly historical and partly intrinsic underlying essences.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Michael Devitt is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center of City University New York. He was formerly at University of Maryland (1988-1999) and University of Sydney (1971-1987). His main research interests are in the philosophy of language and linguistics, realism, biological essentialism, and methodological issues prompted by naturalism

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2023
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0198840284
• ISBN 13: 9780198840282
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 242
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie