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How natural a kind is "eukaryote?".

W Ford Doolittle1

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada.

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|June 4, 2014
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Biological classification remains debated. This study argues that eukaryotes are a natural kind, a discovery rather than an invention, providing conceptual justification for their high rank among biological taxa.

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Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Science
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Systematics

Background:

  • Systematics grapples with whether biological taxa are discoveries (realism) or inventions (nominalism).
  • Natural kinds are entities that exist independently of human minds.
  • The concept of natural kinds is central to scientific classification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the applicability of natural kind concepts to biological taxa.
  • To argue that eukaryotes can be considered a natural kind.
  • To provide conceptual justification for the intuitive classification of eukaryotes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of philosophical concepts of natural kinds.
  • Application of these concepts to the biological taxon 'eukaryote'.
  • Consideration of challenges like genomic chimerism and eukaryotic origins.

Main Results:

  • Several philosophical concepts of natural kinds apply to eukaryotes.
  • Eukaryotes rank highly as a natural kind, arguably more so than prokaryotes.
  • Acknowledges complexities but supports a strong case for eukaryotes as a natural kind.

Conclusions:

  • Eukaryotes exhibit characteristics consistent with being a natural kind.
  • The 'naturalness' of a kind can exist in degrees.
  • Provides a philosophical framework for understanding the status of eukaryotes in biological classification.