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    Even if some qualitative property were universal among al... — Carmelics
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    Even if some qualitative property were universal among all extant species specimens after speciation, that property is not guaranteed to remain universal throughout the lifespan of the taxon

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Kripke's modal semantics distinguishes what is actually universal from what is necessarily universal across all possible worlds.
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    • 2.A property instantiated in all actual members of a taxon remains a contingent fact, not a de re necessity, unless grounded in essence.
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    • 3.Biological taxa lack the kind of intrinsic microstructural essence Kripke ascribes to natural kinds like water, making their properties modally fragile.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hull's process ontology treats species as spatiotemporally extended individuals, not as types defined by fixed intrinsic properties.
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    • 2.If species are historical individuals rather than natural kinds, no property of current members logically constrains the properties of future members of that lineage.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Variability secured by mutation and recombination is the key to evolution
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    • 2.Evolutionary theory shows that universality at one moment does not entail universality across time
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    Modality & Possibility

    Key Terms

    Extant(as used in biology and philosophy of biology)
    Still in existence; currently alive or present (the opposite of extinct).
    Lifespan of a taxon(as used in biology and philosophy of biology)
    The period of time during which a species or larger group exists, from when it first emerges until it goes extinct.
    Specimens(as used in biology and philosophy of biology)
    Individual examples or samples of something, especially individual organisms of a particular species.
    Taxon(as used in biology and philosophy of biology)
    A group of organisms classified together based on shared characteristics; it can be a species, genus, family, or any other level in the classification system.
    qualitative property(Chisholm's characterization in "On the Simplicity of the Soul" (1991))
    A property that characterizes substances (rather than other properties, states, or abstract objects), that could characterize a simple thing, and that is an internal or intrinsic property of anything it characterizes, such that a thing existing in isolation could have it.
    speciation(Discussed in relation to whether intrinsic properties arise and stabilize at the completion of speciation)
    The evolutionary process by which a new species is formed, after which the lineage segment defining the taxon is established
    species(Bacon's multiplicatio specierum theory adapted to epistemology by Crathorn)
    A representative likeness of an external thing, transmitted causally through a medium; in Crathorn's usage, a material mental quality in the mind that has the same nature as the external thing it represents.
    universal(Argument for the generality of Turing machines)
    A computing system capable of simulating any other computing system of the same or lesser power; used here to describe Turing machines as the most general model of computation.

    Related

    A property instantiated in all actual members of a taxon remains a contingent fa...Biological taxa lack the kind of intrinsic microstructural essence Kripke ascrib...Evolutionary theory shows that universality at one moment does not entail univer...Hull's process ontology treats species as spatiotemporally extended individuals,...
    +3 moreShow less
    If species are historical individuals rather than natural kinds, no property of ...Kripke's modal semantics distinguishes what is actually universal from what is n...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: human-nature
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    If we take such a view of the individuating conditions for the species Homo sapiens, what are the consequences for the question of which organisms belong to the species? It might appear that it leaves open the possibility that speciation has resulted in some intrinsic property or set of properties establishing the cohesion specific to the taxon and that such properties count as necessary and sufficient for belonging to it (cf. Devitt 2008: 17ff.). This appearance would be deceptive. To begin wit
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Variability secured by mutation and recombination is the key to evolution

    Similar

    If a property can vary while species membership is preserved, it is no...81%A property that can be lost without triggering speciation cannot be a ...81%Essentialist definitions require properties universally shared among, ...80%A species undergoing constant evolutionary change cannot have a fixed,...79%
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    3 (2 for, 1 against)
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