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    Carmelics

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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Gilbert's proposal to define Homo sapiens via DNA comparison to nonhuman primates relies on species essentialism, which is philosophically untenable.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Gilbert assumes species can be defined by properties universally shared among, and particular to, their members.
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    • 2.This assumption is species essentialism.
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    • 3.Species essentialism has long been challenged by philosophers of biology.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Hull (1978) and Ghiselin (1974) established that species are historical individuals, not natural kinds defined by shared intrinsic properties.
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    • 2.DNA sequence thresholds between taxa are statistically constructed conventions, not discoveries of essential boundaries in nature.
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    • 3.If species lack essences, no percentage of genomic similarity can constitute a necessary or sufficient condition for species membership.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Lewontin's (1972) finding that most human genetic variation exists within, not between, populations undermines genome-based typological demarcation.
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    • 2.A definition grounding Homo sapiens membership in primate DNA divergence would misclassify humans with atypical genomes, violating extensional adequacy.
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