Understanding scientific types: holotypes, stratotypes, and measurement prototypes
- PDF / 964,709 Bytes
- 28 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 58 Downloads / 216 Views
Understanding scientific types: holotypes, stratotypes, and measurement prototypes Alisa Bokulich1 Received: 18 February 2020 / Accepted: 21 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract At the intersection of taxonomy and nomenclature lies the scientific practice of typification. This practice occurs in biology with the use of holotypes (type specimens), in geology with the use of stratotypes, and in metrology with the use of measurement prototypes. In this paper I develop the first general definition of a scientific type and outline a new philosophical theory of types inspired by Pierre Duhem. I use this general framework to resolve the necessity-contingency debate about type specimens in philosophy of biology, to advance the debate over the myth of the absolute accuracy of standards in metrology, and to address the definition-correlation debate in geology. I conclude that just as there has been a productive synergy between philosophical accounts of natural kinds and scientific taxonomic practices, so too there is much to be gained from developing a deeper understanding of the practices and philosophy of scientific types. Keywords Nomenclature · Taxonomy · Type specimen · Holotype · Stratotype · Measurement prototype · Pierre Duhem · Typification · Natural kinds · Classification · Kilogram redefinition · Species · Geology · Metrology
Introduction When it comes to scientific taxonomy and nomenclature, the predominant philosophical focus has been on the issue of natural kinds. While this focus on natural kinds has been philosophically productive, there is another component to some taxonomic and nomenclatural practices that has been largely overlooked by philosophers of science, and that is what we might call ‘scientific types’ and the practice of typification. Scientific types appear across the sciences, though they are only a part of some classificatory practices. Scientific types are found, for example, in biology in the context of holotypes, in the geosciences as stratotypes, and in physics in the form * Alisa Bokulich [email protected] 1
Department of Philosophy, Boston University, Boston, USA
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
54 Page 2 of 28 A. Bokulich
of measurement prototypes (standards). It is worth underscoring at the outset that scientific types are not kinds—they are instead concrete particulars: a particular biological specimen, a particular section of rock, a particular hunk of machined metal. My aim in this paper is to draw together these different cases, identify a common core in their characterization and use, and abstract from that common core a new philosophical account of scientific types.1 I will do this through a detailed examination of scientific practice: examining the use of holotypes in biology in the section titled “Holotypes”, the use of stratotypes in geology in the section “Stratotypes”, and the use of measurement prototypes in the “Prototypes: measurement standards” section. In the section titled “Understanding scientific types and their functions”, I will extract from these t
Data Loading...
