engleski

A survey of biologists on the species problem: comparison of a pilot survey and the final survey

My PhD dissertation is on the species problem in the philosophy of biology. In order to determine the attitudes of active biologists on the key assumptions, concepts and positions regarding the species problem, I conducted a broad survey on members of over 150 departments of biology at universities and institutes across the world. More specifically, the survey was designed to check the validity of the following claims that are often made in the literature on the species problem: 1. The species concept is a fundamental concept in biology. 2. The species is the fundamental unit of evolution. 3. The species problem is of great importance in biology. 4. Biologists think that species are real entities. 5. Species as individuals is a dominant position on the ontological status of the species. 6. Species as individuals position implies that species really exist. 7. Species essentialism is not a plausible position in modern biology. 8. Species monism implies that species really exist. 9. Species pluralism implies that species do not really exist. 10. Most biologists use biological species concept in their research. This type of survey has not been performed before, and the results are quite surprising. At this conference I would present the comparative analysis of the results of the pilot survey that was conducted on Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb and the final survey on a much broader population of working biologists.

Species problem; species concepts; biology; final survey; pilot survey; comparison

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