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Some Philosophical Questions About Paleontology and Their Practica1 Consequences

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Some Philosophical Questions About Paleontology and Their Practica1 Consequences ACTA GEOLOGICA HISPANICA. Concept and method in Paleontology. 16 (1981) nos 1-2, pags. 7-23 Some philosophical questions about paleontology and their practica1 consequences by Miquel DE RENZI Depto. de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Valencia. Burjassot (Valencia). This papcr attempts to objectively discuss the actual state ofpaleontology. The En aquest treball s'ha intentat fer un balanc d'alguns aspectes de I'estat de la progress of this science stood still somewhat during the latter part of the last paleontologia. La historia de la paleontologia mostra un estancarnent a les century which caused it to develop apart from the biological sciences. an area to darreries del segle passac aquest estancament va Fer que la nostra ciencia s'anes which it is naturally tied. As aconsequence, this bruought a long-term stagnation, allunyant cada cop mes de I'area de les ciencies bii~logiques,amb les qualsestava because biology, dunng this century, has made great progress and paleontology lligada naturalment AixO va portar, com a conseqüencia, un important has not During the last 20 years paleontology as a science hasrecuperatedsome endarreriment, car la biologia, durant aquest segle, ha donat un gran pas of this loss, but we as scientists need to be careful in various aspects of its endavant, mentre que aquest no ha estat el cas de lapaleontologia Al nostre pais development -i possiblement a molts d'altres- la paleontologia es, fonamentalment, un estn per datar estrats. Tanmateix, un mal estri, car la datació es basadaen les especies fossils i la seva determinació es fonamenta en el ccncepte d'especie biolbgica; els fossils pero en moltes ocasions, són utilitzats mes aviat com si fossin segells o monedes. Llevat d'excepcions, fins i tot nombrcses, a la practica diaria de la paleontologia li manquen conceptes teorics -niolta gent es impulsada a fer treballs paleontologics sense coneixements basics de la biologia dels gmps que toquen, ni de biologia en sentit ampli-, la qual cosa dona com a resultat treballs que, des d'un punt de bista cientific, son inconsistents. Creiem que la paleontolo En este trabajo se ha intentado hacer un balance de algunos aspectos del estado gia es una ciencia i que el seu interés fonamental es la dimensió historica de la actual de la paleontologia. La historia de la paleontologia muestra un estanca- vida, es a dir, el nucli de la paleontologia no es pot realitzar sense distingir els miento a finales del siglo pasado; este estancamiento hizo que nuestra ciencia esdeveniments «post-mortemn reflectits als fossils; es a dir, sense tafonomia. fuera alejándose cada vez más del área de las ciencias biológicas, a las cuales D'altra banda, la historia de la vida sobre la terra queda reflectida als estrats estaba ligada naturalmente. Esto trajo, como consecuencia, un importante ordenats en el temps, i aixo es estudiat per la paleontologia estratigrafica, els atraso, pues la biologia, durante este siglo, ha dado un gran paso hacia adelante, resultats de la qual son molt importants per a la paleobiologia Tafonomia, mientras que este no ha sido el caso de la paleontologia. En nuestro pais -y paloeobiologia y paleontologia estratigrafica constituirien doncs la ciencia de la posiblemente en muchos otros- la paleontologia es, fundamentalmente, una Paleontologia Certamenf existeix un paradigmaper a la paleobiologia i delqual herramienta para datar estratos. Sin embargo, una mala herramienta, pues la n'existeixen els textos divulgadors, pero no ha tingut exit 1, malauradamenf en datación esta basada en las especies fósiles y su determinación se fundamenta en molts casos -amb excepcions, es clar- s'utilitza amb la mateixa frivolitat amb el concepto de especie biológica; los fósiles, pero, en muchas ocasiones, son que hom utilitzaria una moda, pero sense canvis a les idees de base, que en usados más bien como sellos o monedas. Salvo excepciones, incluso numerosas, general tenen un mal fonament teoric. Caldria, per comencap, fer compte en la practica diaria de la paleontologiafaltan conceptos teóricos-mucha gente d'algunes premises molt basiques per als treballs paleontolbgics que es comencin es impulsada a hacer trabajos paleontológicos sin conocimientos básicos de la a fer a partir d'ara: aix I'estudi tafonomic, la població i les mostres, el no caure en biologia de los grupos que tocan, ni de biologia en sentido amplio-, lo cual da l'abús de I'actualisme i I'uniformitarisme substantius, i darrerament, I'ús critic de como resultado trabajos que, desde un punto de vista cientifico, son inconsisten- I'aparell estadistic. Sense aquests punts de partenca lapaleontologia no es podra tes. Creemos que la paleontologia es una ciencia y que su interés fundamental es desenvolupar. Tanmateix, la paleobiologia pot donar, al igual que a altres la dimensión histórica de la vida, es decir, el núcleo de la paleontologia no se epoques, la visió de fenomens biologics de gran escala a nivel1 temporal. La puede realizar sin distinguir los acontecimientos «post-mortemn reflejados en los biologia com a tal hauria de ser una sintesi de paleontologia i neontologia, la qual fósiles; es dccu, sin tafonomia. Por otro lado, la historia de la vida sobre la tierra cosa s'hauria de reflectir en I'organitzacio dels estudis universitaris de biologia, queda reflejada en los estratos ordenados en el tiempo, y esto es estudiado por la malgrat que en molts casos hi hapaleontolegs procedents del campde les ciencies paleontologia estratigráfica, cuyos resultados son muy importantes para la geologiques. paleobiologia Tafonomia, paleobiologia y paleontologia estratigráfica consti- tuirian pues la ciencia de la paleontologia. Ciertamente, existe un paradigma para la paleobiologia y existen los textosdivulgadores de aquel, pero no ha tenido éxito. Y, desgraciadamente, en muchos casos -con excepciones, claro- se utiliza con la misma frivolidad con que se utilizaría una moda, pero sin cambios en las ideas de base, que en general tienen un mal fundamento teórico. Para empezar, se deheria tener en cuenta algunas premisas muy básicas para los trabajos paleontológicos que se empiecen a hacer a partir de ahora: asi el estudio Paleontology is a body of very complex knowledge in our tafonómico, la población y las muestras, el no caer en el abuso del actualismo y century. This body is expanded on many fields and this is the del uniformitarismo sustantivos, y Últimamente, el uso critico del aparato estadistico. Sin estos puntos de partida la paleontologia no se podrá desarrollar. cause, at the present moment, of the necessity of drawing any Sin embargo, la paleontologia puede dar, al igual que en otrasepocas, lavisionde kind of schema which shows us the relationships arnong these fenómenos biológicos a gran escala a nivel temporal. La biologia, como tal, fields. At the same time, this schema should show us the deberiaseruna sintesis de paleontologia y neontologia, locualdeberiareflejarse hierarchy of such relationships, which are established among en la organización de los estudios universitarios de biologia, a pesar de que en muchos casos nos encontramos con paleontólogos procedentes del campo de las the diverse studies made by the paleontologists. The absence ciencias geológicas. of such a vision can result in abad and useless work, because the paleontological research is carried on without giving the next pages. The interpretation of fossils as organic previously some necessary footsteps. These questions are remains seems today as something of «common sense» —I very well set in other sciences; nevertheless, in our poor use the term «common sense» with all the reserves—, but this paleontology, it is not so ( or it is not so in such a way in many interpretation raises a new problem: the interpretation of the cases). Perhaps, it is necessary to ask if the word «science» is biological and geological phenomena of the past with the key applicable to this body of knowledge called paleontology. I of the present phenomena. have the belief that paleontology is a science or may become a In this way, we can ask ourselves about the degree of science, but the conditions in which this is possible must be uniformity of the Nature during the times; in more familiar specified. terms: is it valid the uniformitarianism? Paleontology can use Under the word «paleontology» there are other areas of information derived from the actual biological and geological knowledge, and they are really sciences, but the very processes, but we may only consider certain properties as paleontology may become a science too. Fossils —the uniform ones during the times. It means that the uniformita- primary data of paleontology— are geological as well as rianism must be applied in a restricted sense. This raises a biological objects. A student may be paleontologist becoming new question: for the most of the paleontologists, fossils a graduate in geology or in biology. That is possible because appear as pure facts. Rudwick, Gould and other authors have fossils are ambivalent objects. Fossils are found in sedimen- fougth against this coarse empiricism. I shall try to illuminate tary rocks and they are useful for important geological this with opinions taken from the philosophy, methodology aspects: age of strata and indications about the sedimentary and history of science. environment in which were formed the sediments where the A debate is opened. Perhaps, many things presented in this organic remains were buried. Simultaneously, the fossil is paper are very discussible. I shall comment the themes that I another component of the sedimentary rocks. The actually have presented in this INTRODUCTION and that I judged fossilized organism could live in the place where the sediment as principal ones. I hope that this paper could be useful for which buried it, after its death, was deposited. But the organic opening the discussion, but it does not cover all the possible remains of living organisms, after the death, could be and important themes, and I am conscious of its mistakes.
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