On 18 May at 4:15 p.m., University of Tartu philosopher of science Edit Talpsepp and biosemiotician Kalevi Kull will give a presentation at the Department of Philosophy colloquium titled “How Philosophy and Semiotics Can Help Clarify Biology.” The colloquium is in the Estonian language.
The presentation explores the categorisation and formation of categories in living nature — in other words, the species problem — from the perspectives of philosophy of science and semiotics. The first part introduces key philosophical debates surrounding different concepts of species, including taxonomic monism and pluralism, biological (anti-)essentialism, and the dilemma between realism and conventionalism about species. The second part presents a semiotic approach, introduces the biosemiotic concept of species, and discusses how the long-debated species problem might be resolved.
