Richard Owen's Vertebrate Archetype: Raison d'Être and Destiny of One of the Most Influential Models in the History of Biology

Authors

  • Gustavo Andrés Caponi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1808-1711.2022.e84581

Keywords:

Richard Owen, compared anatomy, ancestor, archetype, unity of type

Abstract

The vertebrate archetype outlined by Richard Owen in the mid-19th century was a model conceived to guide the morphological analysis of living beings within the guidelines defined by the idea of a unit of composition when applied to the specific case of vertebrates. But here, in addition to analyzing the original raison d'être of this archetype and its mode of operation within the epistemic context in which it effectively emerged, we will also allude to the way in which this model could come to be considered, not as an idealization, or a methodologically operative abstraction, but as an approximation to a real entity that had to be individualized and duly described.

Author Biography

Gustavo Andrés Caponi

Departamento de Filosofia

Filosofia da Ciência

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Published

2022-06-07

Issue

Section

Special Issue: Models and Modeling in the Sciences