Re: Thanks to TH for Sick Bee report and discussion

[Stanley Friesen <sarima@ix.netcom.com>]

At 09:33 AM 1/18/99 -0600, Jonathan R. Wagner wrote:
>        It seems that "cladists" pick and choose their methodologies from
>the parts of phylogenetic systematics (that being the big tomato,
>everything, all the stuff you love to hate). Therefore, one can find
>(probably many) "cladists" who do not subscribe to phylogenetic taxonomy.

Indeed, this would probably include me, and certainly included my mentor
Peter Ashlock.

>Indeed, I'm sure there are people who use cladistic methodology but don't
>believe in the superiority of the monophyletic taxon (e.g. Mayr, in his
>systematic zoology text, advocates cladistic methodology for the
>construction of "evolutionary taxonomies").

Actually, a large section of the latest edition of this book was by Peter
Ashlock!

>        By the way, PT is EXPLICITLY non-platonic! (*please* read the first
>De Quiroz and Gauthier article, where philosophical aspects of PT are
>discussed in (to my meager recollections of high school philosophy)
>excruciating detail.

Of course, Ernst Mayr's approach to taxonomy is *also* explicitly non-platonic.
[Dr. Mayr is *very* critical of applying Platonic, or even Aristotelean,
categories to living things].

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com