ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how metaphysical ideas nonetheless continue to play a role in biological science focusing in particular on problems of biological classification. Already in the eighteenth century, biologists had begun to move away from the essentialist idea of fixed species, and Darwin’s decisive achievement consisted in establishing a framework for understanding how new species can come into existence in time. A large number of different conceptions of species have been advanced in recent years, including for example definitions based on shared environments, on cohesion, or on intraspecies recognition. The most crucial element of the biological approach from our present perspective is the thesis to the effect that species are particulars, a thesis first advanced by Ghiselin and then by Hull. Gene Ontology has proven useful, especially in research on so-called “model organisms,” which are studied experimentally for purposes of drawing implications for our understanding of human health and disease.
