Article ID: CBB000932267

“The Unity of the Generative Power”: Modern Taxonomy and the Problem of Animal Generation (2009)

unapi

Much recent scholarly treatment of the theoretical and practical underpinnings of biological taxonomy from the 16th to the 18th centuries has failed to adequately consider the importance of the mode of generation of some living entity in the determination of its species membership, as well as in the determination of the ontological profile of the species itself. In this article, I show how a unique set of considerations was brought to bear in the classification of creatures whose species membership was thought to be entirely determined by descent from parents of the same kind, in contrast with creatures whose generation could proceed spontaneously or through budding. Concretely, the relevance of mode of generation to the practice of taxonomy means that we must rethink the role of the early modern botanists in the development of a universal science of applied taxonomy. I argue that the task of classifying `higher' biological kinds---those united, in Kant's language, through their generative power---is one with its unique set of problems, arising as much from classical anthropology as from natural philosophy, and that the conception of zoological species that emerged in the early modern period was a consequence of these problems, and not primarily of the `applied metaphysics' of classificatory practice.

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Authors & Contributors
Canington, Stephanie L.
Thierry Belleguic
Rogers, Ethan S.
Wilson, Derek K.
Christina Ramos
Schloesser, Stephen
Concepts
Biology
Zoology
Biogenesis; origin of life; spontaneous generation
Classification in biology
Natural history
Botany
Time Periods
17th century
18th century
16th century
Enlightenment
Renaissance
19th century
Places
France
Europe
Mexico City (Mexico)
South Africa
Latin America
Japan
Institutions
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
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