From a Darwinian point of view,
taxonomic groups are understood as
historical entities that arise at an
evolutionary moment and that can
always disappear. But these groups were
also understood by many naturalists as
natural kinds; in other words, as
permanent, ahistorical types. I will
explore some of the forms that this
typological thought took, showing
that this typological perspective
neither depends on theological beliefs,
nor obeys the adoption of an ontology
that might contradict natural science.
Thus I shall analyze Buffon’s
understanding of species and the ways
in which Cuvier and Lamarck
understood the higher taxonomic
orders.
