Are Species Social Objects? Some Notes

Although biological species might seem paradigmatic natural objects, several objections can be advanced against their independence from taxonomic activities and from scientific and social practices in general. Darwin himself, in the second chapter of the Origin, claimed to be looking «at the term sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Elena Casetta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Rosenberg & Sellier 2014-11-01
Series:Rivista di Estetica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/estetica/741
Description
Summary:Although biological species might seem paradigmatic natural objects, several objections can be advanced against their independence from taxonomic activities and from scientific and social practices in general. Darwin himself, in the second chapter of the Origin, claimed to be looking «at the term species as one arbitrarily given, for the sake of convenience, to a set of individuals closely resembling each other». In this contribution, I sketch the sticking points of the issue whether species are natural or social objects in the light of two of the main accounts of social objects, namely Searle’s, on the one hand, and Ferraris’ on the other.
ISSN:0035-6212
2421-5864