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dc.contributor.authorLeonelli, Sabinaen_GB
dc.date.accessioned2012-07-18T14:46:03Zen_GB
dc.date.accessioned2012-09-28T18:26:26Zen_GB
dc.date.accessioned2013-04-04T12:22:49Z
dc.date.issued2012-08-22en_GB
dc.description.abstractScientific classification has long been recognized as involving a specific style of reasoning and doing research, and as occasionally affecting the development of scientific theories. However, the role played by classificatory activities in generating theories has not been closely investigated within the philosophy of science. I argue that classificatory systems can themselves become a form of theory, which I call classificatory theory, when they come to formalize and express the scientific significance of the elements being classified. This is particularly evident in some of the classification practices used in contemporary experimental biology, such as bio-ontologies used to classify genomic data and typologies used to classify ‘‘normal’’ stages of development in developmental biology. In this paper, I explore some characteristics of classificatory theories and ways in which they differ from other types of scientific theories and other components of scientific epistemology, such as models and background assumptions.
dc.description.sponsorshipEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
dc.identifier.citationVol. 7, Issue 1en_GB
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s13752-012-0049-z
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10036/3825en_GB
dc.relation.replaceshttp://hdl.handle.net/10036/3662en_GB
dc.relation.replaces10036/3662en_GB
dc.relation.urlhttp://www.springer.com/philosophy/epistemology+and+philosophy+of+science/journal/13752en_GB
dc.subjectBiology
dc.subjectBio-ontologies
dc.subjectClassification
dc.subjectData
dc.subjectTheory
dc.titleClassificatory Theory in Biologyen_GB
dc.date.available2012-07-18T14:46:03Zen_GB
dc.date.available2012-09-28T18:26:26Zen_GB
dc.date.available2013-04-04T12:22:49Z
dc.descriptionpublication-status: Accepteden_GB
dc.descriptiontypes: Articleen_GB
dc.descriptionAuthor's version of a paper subsequently published in Biological Theory. Please cite the published version by following the DOI link.
dc.identifier.journalBiological Theoryen_GB


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