The Poverty of the Linnaean Hierarchy

A Philosophical Study of Biological Taxonomy

af Marc (University of Calgary) Ereshefsky

The question of whether biologists should continue to use the Linnaean hierarchy has been a hotly debated issue. Ereshefsky argues that biologists should abandon the Linnaean system and adopt an alternative that is in line with evolutionary theory. He then makes specific recommendations for a post-Linnaean method of classification.