Ideas of John Dupré, by Theme

[British, fl. 1993, At Stanford and Birkbeck, and the Professor at Exeter University.]

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7. Existence / E. Categories / 1. Categories
17377 All descriptive language is classificatory
7. Existence / E. Categories / 2. Categorisation
17376 We should aim for a classification which tells us as much as possible about the object
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 8. Essence as Explanatory
17390 Natural kinds don't need essentialism to be explanatory
9. Objects / D. Essence of Objects / 10. Essence as Species
17388 It seems that species lack essential properties, so they can't be natural kinds
17389 A species might have its essential genetic mechanism replaced by a new one
14. Science / A. Basis of Science / 4. Prediction
17374 The possibility of prediction rests on determinism
18. Thought / C. Content / 5. Twin Earth
17378 Presumably molecular structure seems important because we never have the Twin Earth experience
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 1. Natural Kinds
17381 Phylogenetics involves history, and cladism rests species on splits in lineage
17385 Kinds don't do anything (including evolve) because they are abstract
26. Natural Theory / B. Natural Kinds / 7. Critique of Kinds
17375 Natural kinds are decided entirely by the intentions of our classification
17379 Borders between species are much less clear in vegetables than among animals
17380 Wales may count as fish
17384 Even atoms of an element differ, in the energy levels of their electrons
17387 Ecologists favour classifying by niche, even though that can clash with genealogy
17382 Cooks, unlike scientists, distinguish garlic from onions
27. Natural Reality / G. Biology / 5. Species
17386 The theory of evolution is mainly about species
17383 Species are the lowest-level classification in biology