Taxon names and varieties of reference
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Taxon names and varieties of reference. / Witteveen, Joeri.
In: History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Vol. 43, No. 2, 78, 2021, p. 1-12.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Taxon names and varieties of reference
AU - Witteveen, Joeri
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Linnaean-style, rank-based codes of taxonomic nomenclature provide stability to the relation between taxon names and their referents through the device of nomenclatural types. The practice of using types to tether names to taxa is uncontroversial and well-understood. But the nature of the relation between types, names, and taxa continues to be a topic of philosophical debate. A particularly contested issue is whether it is necessary for taxa that have a type specimen to contain their type specimen. Jerzy Brzozowski has recently offered a novel account of taxon names that, he claims, shows that the relation between a type specimen and the (sub)species it belongs to is contingent (Brzozowski in Hist Philos Life Sci 42(3):1-25, 2020). I argue that this is mistaken. While Brzozowski's contribution helps to advance the debate by bringing concepts from the philosophy of reference to bear on taxonomic naming practices, his new account of taxon names fails to support his central argument. Indeed, I show that the philosophical concepts he introduces into the debate cement the view that it is necessary for a (sub)species with a type specimen to contain it.
AB - Linnaean-style, rank-based codes of taxonomic nomenclature provide stability to the relation between taxon names and their referents through the device of nomenclatural types. The practice of using types to tether names to taxa is uncontroversial and well-understood. But the nature of the relation between types, names, and taxa continues to be a topic of philosophical debate. A particularly contested issue is whether it is necessary for taxa that have a type specimen to contain their type specimen. Jerzy Brzozowski has recently offered a novel account of taxon names that, he claims, shows that the relation between a type specimen and the (sub)species it belongs to is contingent (Brzozowski in Hist Philos Life Sci 42(3):1-25, 2020). I argue that this is mistaken. While Brzozowski's contribution helps to advance the debate by bringing concepts from the philosophy of reference to bear on taxonomic naming practices, his new account of taxon names fails to support his central argument. Indeed, I show that the philosophical concepts he introduces into the debate cement the view that it is necessary for a (sub)species with a type specimen to contain it.
U2 - 10.1007/s40656-021-00432-4
DO - 10.1007/s40656-021-00432-4
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34081231
VL - 43
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
JF - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
SN - 0391-9714
IS - 2
M1 - 78
ER -
ID: 271760561