| 0659.6252 GENES'AND'SPECIES CLASS AND RACE | |
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| Prof. Staffan Müller-Wille | סמינר |
| As a topic in the history and philosophy of science, classification occupies two curiously divergent positions. On the one hand, classification has been viewed as fundamental both for understanding the formation of theories through induction and for understanding the relation among alternative theories: "Entrenchment" as the record of past projections, in which predicates, or rather the classes they select, become established as "projectible" (GOODMAN 1954) and "incommensurability" as a relation of untranslatability between theories due to partial overlap among their respective taxonomic structures (KUHN 1991) are the catch-words here. On the other hand, classification has often been presented as a more primitive, merely preparatory and preliminary stage in scientific concept formation, to be overcome by the formation of comparative and quantitative concepts (HEMPEL & OPPENHEIMER 1936) or by a deeper understanding of the mechanisms causing similarities (QUINE 1969).
It is probably this discrepancy of assigning both a fundamental and a primitive function to classification that has lead to the situation that there are only a few studies that attend to the vast variety of taxonomies actually proposed by scientists. Such taxonomies feature prominently in the disciplines conventionally deemed "immature" by philosophers of science, and which historians and sociologists of science –in their understandable drive to tackle philosophers on the very grounds the latter forage– have equally neglected until recently. These disciplines may loosely be bundled under the heading "natural history" or "descriptive sciences": botany, zoology, mineralogy, geology, meteorology, hydrology, geography, anthropology. A vast amount of sources in these fields present nothing but proposals for classification, and yet the array of structures displayed by this material has largely gone unanalysed by science studies. It is as if the "primitive" aspect of classification, the dullness that surrounds pages covered by nothing else than names and definitions, no "real" arguments interceding, prevents us from recognising the place to look for when we try to understand its fundamental aspects. The general aim of the course is to demonstrate the diversity of classificatory structures, to introduce conceptual tools for their analysis, and to substantiate the claim that classification studies yield insights into the social nature of scientific knowledge. The course will start with a critical introduction to four prominent approaches to the study of classification. The main section of the course will then turn to the analysis of specific, historical examples of classificatory practices. A final session will sum up previous discussion. Each session will be introduced by a one hour lecture, followed by discussion on the basis of a key text from primary or secondary literature. Literature for additional reading will be provided. The course partially reflects work on a current book project on classification. | |
| הערות: הקורס יתחיל לאחר חופשת הפסח | |