Essence in the Age of Evolution: A New Theory of Natural Kinds

ISBN-13: 9781032094755 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 152 str.

Christopher J. Austin

Opis

This book offers a defence of a highly contested philosophical position: biological natural kind essentialism. Austin challenges common objections to this theory, and in conjunction with contemporary scientific advancements within the field of evolutionary-developmental biology, he utilises a contemporary neo-Aristotelian metaphysics o

Spis treści

Introduction

1. Biological Natural Kind Essentialism: Definitions & Desiderata

2. Essence and Explanation: Natural Kinds in the Taxonomic Tree

3. Powerfully Directed Development: A Dispositional Analysis of Ontogenesis

4. Ontogenetic Causal Primacy: The Fount and Flow of Information

5. The Essence of Natural Kinds: Unity in Diversity

6. An Evolutionary Ontology: Priority, Modality, and The Natural State

Conclusion

O autorze

Christopher J. Austin is Head of Philosophy at Sutton Grammar School, London, and specialises in the metaphysics of science, with a particular focus on biology. Recent publications include ‘Dispositions in Evolutionary Developmental Biology’ in Evolutionary Developmental Biology: A Reference Guide, and ‘A Biologically Informed Hylomorphism’ in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science.