Abstract

In chapter 1 it is argued that species and other biological taxa are natural kinds. This view is defended against accounts according to which biological taxa are not kinds at all, but individuals, and against accounts according to which biological taxa are kinds but not natural. With regard to, LaPorte argues for the minimalist position that both the species-as-individuals interpretation as well as the species-as-kinds interpretation can be viewed as an adequate reconstruction of scientific species-talk. With regard to, he first adopts the liberal conception that a natural kind is a kind with explanatory value—thus allowing for naturalness to come in degrees and respects—and he then shows that, unsurprisingly, biological kinds qualify as natural.