Species Problems and Beyond offers a collection of up-to-date essays
discussing from an interdisciplinary perspective the many ramifications
of the 'Species Problem.' The authors represent experts in the
philosophy of biology, in species-level evolutionary investigations, and
in biodiversity studies and conservation. Some of the topics addressed
concern the context sensitivity of the term 'species'; species as
individuals, processes, natural kinds, or as 'operative concepts';
species delimitation in the age of Big (genomic) Data; and taxonomic
inflation and its consequences for conservation strategies. The
carefully edited volume will be an invaluable resource for philosophers
of biology and evolutionary biologists alike.
- Olivier Rieppel, Rowe Family Curator of Evolutionary Biology,
Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum, USA
Species, or 'the Species Problem', is a topic in science, in the
philosophy of science, and in general philosophy. In fact, it
encompasses many aspects of the same problem, and these are dealt with
in this volume. Species are often thought of as fundamental units of
biological matter to be used in ecology, conservation, classification,
and biodiversity. The chapters in this book present opposing views on
the current philosophical and conceptual issues of the Species Problem
in biology.
Divided into four sections, Concepts and Theories, Practice and
Methods, Ranks and Trees and Names, and Metaphysics and
Epistemologies, the book is authored by biologists, philosophers, and
historians, many leaders in their fields. Topics include ontology of
species, definitions of both species category and units, species rank,
speciation issues, nomenclature, ecology, and species conservation.
Species Problems and Beyond aims to clarify the contemporary issues of
the Species Problem. It is ideal for use in upper-level seminars and
courses in Evolutionary Biology, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of
Biology, Systematics and Taxonomy, and Phylogenetics/Cladistics, and for
any scholar in these fields.
