This is an examination of the relationship between classification and evolutionary theory, with reference to the competing schools of taxonomic thinking. Emphasis is placed on one of these schools, the transformed cladists who have attempted to reject all evolutionary thinking in classification and to cast doubt on evolution in general. The author examines the limits to this line of thought from a philosophical and methodological perspective. He concludes that transformed cladistics does not achieve what it claims and that it either implicitly assumes a Platonic World View, or is unintelligible without taking into account evolutionary processes--the very processes it claims to reject. Through this analysis the author attempts to formulate criteria of an objective and consistent nature that can be used to judge competing methodologies and theories. Philosophers of science, zoologists interested in taxonomy, and evolutionary biologists will find this a compelling study.
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"...the present book is by far the most rigorous available, and its criticisms are much more pointed and direct. In particular, the critique of transformed cladism goes well beyond the usual rather bland remarks..." Geological Magazine
Book Description
This book examines the relationship between classification and evolutionary theory, with reference to the competing schools of taxonomic thinking. Emphasis is placed on one of these schools, the transformed cladists, who have attempted to reject all evolutionary thinking in classification and to cast doubt on evolution in general.
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First Sentence:
Over the years, the taxonomic schools have encountered several recurrent problems. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
strong phenetics, phylogenetic cladists, transformed cladists, transformed cladistics, character congruency, explanatory essentialism, monothetic methods, descriptive attitude, evolutionary branching sequences, phylogenetic weighting, methodological neutrality, ontogenetic method, evolutionary systematists, monothetic groups, taxonomic schools, monotypic taxa, phylogenetic cladistics, classification construction, polythetic groups, explanatory essences, idealistic morphology, natural taxa, multiple speciation, paleontological method, evolutionary systematics Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
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Over the years, the taxonomic schools have encountered several recurrent problems. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
strong phenetics, phylogenetic cladists, transformed cladists, transformed cladistics, character congruency, explanatory essentialism, monothetic methods, descriptive attitude, evolutionary branching sequences, phylogenetic weighting, methodological neutrality, ontogenetic method, evolutionary systematists, monothetic groups, taxonomic schools, monotypic taxa, phylogenetic cladistics, classification construction, polythetic groups, explanatory essences, idealistic morphology, natural taxa, multiple speciation, paleontological method, evolutionary systematics Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Von Baer, D'Arcy Thompson New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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This book cites 69
books:
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6
books
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- Phylogenetic Systematics by Willi Hennig on 13 pages
- Principles of Systematic Zoology by Ernst Mayr on 12 pages
- Mathematical Taxonomy (Probability & Mathematical Statistics) by Nicholas Jardine on 10 pages
- Principles of Animal Taxonomy (Biological) by George Gaylord Simpson on 9 pages
- Major Patterns in Vertebrate Evolution (NATO Advanced Study Institutes Series: Series A, Life Scienc) by Max Hecht on 6 pages
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- Milestones in Systematics (Systematics Association Special Volumes) by David M. Williams on page 125
- Memory Practices in the Sciences (Inside Technology) by Geoffrey C. Bowker in Back Matter
- Classification, Evolution, and the Nature of Biology by Alec L. Panchen in Back Matter
- Sequence - Evolution - Function: Computational Approaches in Comparative Genomics by Eugene V. Koonin in Back Matter
- Biology of Fishes by Quentin Bone on page 24
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