Metaphisical monism and taxonomic pluralism - (:unkn) unknown (Facultad de Humanidades. Universidad de Santiago de Chile, 2026)
Monismo Metafísico y Pluralismo Taxonómico
I argue against the Marc Ereshefsky’s interpretation according to which Willi Hennig is committed to metaphysical pluralism in his theory of phylogenetic systematics although from the taxonomic point of view he is a monist. I claim that the correct thesis is just the opposite. Hennig is a metaphysical monist but a taxonomic pluralist, since he argued that there is only one correct system of causal relations between the states of an individual organism, the genealogical relations between those individuals, and the phylogenetic relationships among species that are also conceived as individuals from an ontological viewpoint. According to Hennig, even though a plurality of classifications are possible on the basis of relations of similarity among characters, the categories related to these classifications are abstractions and they lack of individuality and reality.
Argumento en contra de la interpretacioÌ n de Marc Ereshefsky seguÌ n la cual Willi Hennig se compromete con el pluralismo metafiÌ sico en su teoriÌ a de la sistemaÌ tica filogeneÌ tica aunque desde el punto de vista taxonoÌ mico es un monista. Sostengo que la tesis correcta es justamente la contraria. Hennig es un monista metafiÌ sico pero un pluralista taxonoÌ mico, dado que sostuvo que hay un solo sistema correcto de relaciones causales entre los estados de un organismo individual, las relaciones genealoÌ gicas entre esos individuos, y en las relaciones filogeneÌ ticas entre especies que ontoloÌ gicamente tambieÌ n son individuos. Aunque son posibles, seguÌ n Hennig, una pluralidad de clasificaciones sobre la base de relaciones de semejanza entre caracteres, las categoriÌ as de estas clasificaciones son abstracciones y carecen de individualidad y realidad.
Keywords: Henning; Monismo metafísico; pluralismo metafísico; pluralismo taxonómico; esencialismo; Ereshefsky; Henning; metaphysical monism; metaphysical pluralism; taxonomic pluralism; essentialism; Ereshefsky