All dogs resemble one another because if they didn’t have a critical resemblance, we wouldn’t use the same label for them.
That would only be a sufficient answer to the question “Why do we have a category called ‘dogs’ such that all of its members resemble one another?”. Genetics, evolution, etc. are indeed necessary to answer the question about the referent rather than the quotation.
That would only be a sufficient answer to the question “Why do we have a category called ‘dogs’ such that all of its members resemble one another?”. Genetics, evolution, etc. are indeed necessary to answer the question about the referent rather than the quotation.
Only because he picked a specific category where the (apparently-significant) physical resemblance did in fact coincide with a genetic resemblance. But because he picked a class of animals (“dogs”) due to other criteria, the answer to that question begins and ends with his classification algorithm and what his mind counts as “doglike”.
It’s quite common (as I made clear) for people to give the same name to genetically distant organisms or organs. The reason for physical similarity in that case is quite different from the reason in the case of the genetically similar organisms.
To base your answer to Plato on dogs’ genetic similarity, you would also have to “explain” sharks and dolphins as being the same species—the “species” of fish.
To base your answer to Plato on dogs’ genetic similarity, you would also have to “explain” sharks and dolphins as being the same species—the “species” of fish.
Here, too, one search out scientific explanations for how the similarities arose—this time having to do partly with how form is passed along within a species (genetics), and partly with convergent evolutionary pressures that lead sharks and dolphins to both have a streamlined shape, flippers, etc.
Yes, I get that. But, again, Plato didn’t create a category isomorphic to modern knowledge of genetic lines. He created a category based on what Greeks at the time deemed “doglike”. And the answer to that question is purely one of “why do you consider a boundary that includes only those things you call ‘dogs’ worthy of its own label?” Only later, as humans gained more knowledge, could they ask more complex questions about organisms that require knowledge of genetics, selection pressures, and convergent evolution. But the Greeks were not then at that point.
Also, explanations having to do with how humans deem something doglike are scientific.
Edit: To make the point clearer, consider ansewring Plato by saying “dogs are similar because genes determine what an animal looks like, animals reproduce by passing genes, and all dogs have similar genes”. Such an answer would be wrong (uninformative) because it uses the premise “animals you give the same label to are similar because they have genes proportionally similar”. This model is wrong, as it requires (per my above comment) you to also tell Plato that “shark-fish and dolphin-fish are similar because genes determine what an animal looks like, animals reproduce by passing genes, and all fish have similar genes.”
That would only be a sufficient answer to the question “Why do we have a category called ‘dogs’ such that all of its members resemble one another?”. Genetics, evolution, etc. are indeed necessary to answer the question about the referent rather than the quotation.
Only because he picked a specific category where the (apparently-significant) physical resemblance did in fact coincide with a genetic resemblance. But because he picked a class of animals (“dogs”) due to other criteria, the answer to that question begins and ends with his classification algorithm and what his mind counts as “doglike”.
It’s quite common (as I made clear) for people to give the same name to genetically distant organisms or organs. The reason for physical similarity in that case is quite different from the reason in the case of the genetically similar organisms.
To base your answer to Plato on dogs’ genetic similarity, you would also have to “explain” sharks and dolphins as being the same species—the “species” of fish.
Here, too, one search out scientific explanations for how the similarities arose—this time having to do partly with how form is passed along within a species (genetics), and partly with convergent evolutionary pressures that lead sharks and dolphins to both have a streamlined shape, flippers, etc.
Yes, I get that. But, again, Plato didn’t create a category isomorphic to modern knowledge of genetic lines. He created a category based on what Greeks at the time deemed “doglike”. And the answer to that question is purely one of “why do you consider a boundary that includes only those things you call ‘dogs’ worthy of its own label?” Only later, as humans gained more knowledge, could they ask more complex questions about organisms that require knowledge of genetics, selection pressures, and convergent evolution. But the Greeks were not then at that point.
Also, explanations having to do with how humans deem something doglike are scientific.
Edit: To make the point clearer, consider ansewring Plato by saying “dogs are similar because genes determine what an animal looks like, animals reproduce by passing genes, and all dogs have similar genes”. Such an answer would be wrong (uninformative) because it uses the premise “animals you give the same label to are similar because they have genes proportionally similar”. This model is wrong, as it requires (per my above comment) you to also tell Plato that “shark-fish and dolphin-fish are similar because genes determine what an animal looks like, animals reproduce by passing genes, and all fish have similar genes.”