BIO 3158 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Pronghorn, American Cheetah, Shock Absorber
10 Jan 2017
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What we observe in nature: process. The main objective is to put order in nature: evolution allows for order in nature. Plato (427-347bce: there is a world of ideas of forms that is totally separate from the material world. Everything or living beings that we observe with our senses is just a poor imitation of its perfect representation in the world of forms. Aristotle (384-320bce: there is no need to postulate the hypothetical existence of an innate world of ideas of. We find the essence of things by carefully examining the world around us: believes we define the ideal form by examining what is around us. This idea has permeated for 2000 years. Plato says we are born with a shape, and what we are seeing in nature are imperfections. Aristotle says, we should observe nature and from that we can determine what the ideal form is: the is the way that taxonomists define things.
