Skip to main content

School of Philosophy

  • Home
  • People
  • Events
    • Event series
    • Conferences
      • Past conferences
    • Past events
  • News
    • Audio/Video Recordings
  • Research
  • Study with us
    • Prizes and scholarships
  • Visit us
  • Contact us

Centres & Projects

  • Centre for Consciousness
  • Centre for Moral, Social and Political Theory
  • Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences
  • Humanising Machine Intelligence

Related Sites

  • Research School of Social Sciences
  • ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences

Centre for Consciousness

Related Sites

Centre for Moral, Social and Political Theory

Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences

School of Philosophy

Administrator

Breadcrumb

HomeUpcoming EventsMatthew Slater (Bucknell), "Biological Parts and Wholes"
Matthew Slater (Bucknell), "Biological Parts and Wholes"

Philosophers of biology have been contending over the metaphysical status of species for some time now. The dominant view, Species-as-Individuals (SAI), has it that species are concrete particulars composed of organisms. Though popular, the view faces myriad metaphysical difficulties familiar from the study of mereology and ontology. In response, SAI-ists will sometimes claim that they are dealing with a different, biological notion of parthood which evades the difficulties. I examine this response, contending that even if it is coherent, it is unlikely to salvage the view. I articulate a more promising deflationary approach to the metaphysics of species that draws upon recent work on plural reference and predication.

Date & time

  • Thu 26 May 2011, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Location

Coombs Seminar Room B

Event Series

Philosophy Departmental Seminars