Michael Devitt, "Biological Essentialism" (Oxford UP, 2023)
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What is biological essentialism and why does it matter?
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Hello and welcome to New Books and Philosophy, a podcast channel with the New Books Network. I'm Carrie Figtor, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. I'm co-host of the channel along with Robert Talise, Sarah Tyson, and Malcolm Keating. Together, we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books in a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Michael Devitt, distinguished professor of philosophy at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Emeritus. His new book, Biological Essentialism, is just out from Cambridge University Press. What makes a species a species? What keeps all the members together? Aristotle answered the species question by positing unchanging essences, properties that all and only members of a species shared.
Individuals belong to a species by possessing this essence. Biologists and philosophers of biology today are either not essentialists at all or Or if they think they are essences, they are relational historical properties. In his provocative book, Devitt argues for a new form of biological essentialism, in which intrinsic essences, probably largely genetic properties, are part of what tie species together, and that the actual explanatory practices of biologists commit them to this view. Devitt responds to many philosophers that have been critical of his position, and he also applies his essentialism to ongoing debates about race, realism, and anti-realism. Let's turn to the interview. Hello, Michael Devitt.
Welcome to New Books in Philosophy.
Hello, Barry.
Nice to talk with you after such a long time. Um before we get started, um, I always like to start with a little bit of introduction in terms of, you know. who you are, what your interests are in philosophy, and then how you came to write this book. I mean, most people will know who you are, uh, but um it's always interesting to know how you came to write the book.
Right. Well it's actually quite a nice story too. Um I uh as you know, I I've really worked the centre of my work has always been in the theory of language and I was working on uh an issue in the theory of language, um rigidity, which um uh my friend Saul Kripke introduced into the into the uh philosophical jargon. And uh uh I was writing a paper of the on the the problem of applying rigidity which was introduced primarily for singular terms applying it to uh general terms and kind terms in in particular. And um in the course of writing this article. I had to take I I had a thesis. That the notion of rigidity we needed was one not of rigid designation, but rigid application. That's what we need when we get to kind terms.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is biological essentialism and why does it matter?
0:00–9:52
2
How did Aristotle’s view of species shape modern essentialist debates?
9:52–18:12
3
What is the difference between intrinsic and relational essences in biology?
18:12–25:59
4
How does Devitt defend his essentialist position against critics?
25:59–33:18
5
Why are genetic and developmental properties considered intrinsic essences?
33:18–42:13
6
How do concrete examples like rhinos and pencils illustrate essentialism?
42:13–50:36
7
What is the connection between biological essentialism and race realism?
50:36–58:05
8
How does the hierarchical taxonomy relate to explanatory power in biology?
58:05–1:04:24
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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