Classifications are usually divided into naturaland artificial.
Natural classification - the classification of objects according to important, essential features for them.
Artificial classification - classification of objects according to their secondary, insignificant characteristics.
Examples of artificial classifications are alphabetical classification of books in a library, lawyers' height classification, etc.
Classifications are widely used in science, and it is natural that the most complex and perfect of them are found here.
A brilliant example of scientific classification is the periodic table of elements of D.I. Mendeleev. She fixes natural connections between chemical elements and sets the place of each of them in a single table. Summing up the results of the previous development of the chemistry of elements, this system marked the beginning of a new period in their study. It made it possible to make fully confirmed predictions about the still unknown elements.
The classification of plants by the Swedish biologist K. Linnaeus is widely known, who arranged the objects of observation - elements of animate and inanimate nature - in a strict order, based on their clear and specific features. This classification would have to reveal the basic principles that determine the structure of the world, and give a complete and deep explanation of nature.
Linnaeus's leading idea was the opposition of natural and artificial classifications. If artificial classification uses their insignificant attributes to order objects, up to referring to the initial letters of the names of these objects, then natural classification is based on essential characteristics, from which many derived properties of the objects being ordered follow. Artificial classification gives very meager and shallow knowledge about its objects; natural classification brings them into a system containing the most important information about them.
As Linnaeus and his followers believed, comprehensive natural classifications are the highest goal study of nature and the crown of its scientific knowledge.
Modern ideas about the role of classifications have changed markedly. The contrast between natural and artificial classifications has largely lost its acuteness. It is not always possible to clearly separate the essential from the non-essential, especially in living nature. Objects studied by science are, as a rule, complex systems of intertwined and interdependent properties. To single out the most essential of them, leaving aside all the others, most often it is possible only in the abstract. Moreover, what appears to be significant in one respect is usually much less important when viewed in another. In addition, the process of comprehending the essence of even a simple object is endless.
Thus, the role of classification, including the natural one, in the knowledge of nature should not be overestimated. Moreover, one should not exaggerate its importance in the field of complex and dynamic social objects. The hope for a comprehensive and basically complete classification is a clear utopia, even if it is only about inanimate nature. Living things, very complex and in the process of constant change, are extremely difficult to fit even into the headings of the proposed limited classifications and do not reckon with the boundaries established by man.
Realizing a certain artificiality of the most natural classifications and noting even elements of arbitrariness in them, one should not, however, go to the other extreme and belittle their importance.
Difficulties with classification are most often of an objective reason. The point is not in the lack of insight of the human mind, but in the complexity of the world around us, in the absence of rigid boundaries and clearly outlined classes in it. The general variability of things, their "fluidity" further complicates and blurs this picture. Therefore, not all and not always it is possible to clearly classify. Anyone who is constantly aimed at drawing clear dividing lines runs the risk of ending up in an artificial world created by himself, which has little to do with the dynamic real world full of shades and transitions.
The most difficult object to classify is, without a doubt, a person. Types of people, their temperaments, actions, feelings, aspirations, actions, etc. - these are such thin and fluid "matters" that successful attempts to typologize them are very rare.
The classification of people taken in the unity of their inherent properties causes great difficulties. Even certain aspects of a person's mental life and activities are difficult to classify.
It can be noted that there is no generally accepted natural classification, within which legal norms would turn out to be a special case of norms; there is no clear classification of human mental states, in which the distinction between the states of physiological and pathological affect, important for criminal law, has found its place and justification, etc.
In this regard, it must be emphasized that one should not be overly picky about classifications of things that by their very nature resist strict distinctions.
Each person is unique and at the same time has traits in common with other people. To distinguish one person from another, we use concepts such as temperament, character, personality. IN everyday communication they have a fairly definite meaning and help us understand ourselves and others. However, there are no strict definitions of these concepts, and, accordingly, there is no clear division of people by temperament and character.
The ancient Greeks divided people into choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic. Already in our time I.P. Pavlov improved this classification and extended it to all higher mammals. In Pavlov, a strong excitable, unbalanced type corresponds to a choleric, and a weak one to a melancholic; a sanguine person is a strong balanced type, and a phlegmatic person is a strong balanced inert. A strong unbalanced type is prone to rage, a weak one to fear, for a sanguine person a predominance of positive emotions is typical, and a phlegmatic person does not at all show any violent emotional reactions to the environment. "Excitable type in his the highest manifestation- wrote Pavlov, - these are mostly people of an aggressive nature, the extreme inhibited mud is what is called a cowardly animal "
Pavlov himself did not overestimate the importance of this classification of temperaments and the possibility of applying it to specific people. He spoke, in particular, not only about the four indicated types of temperament, but also about “specially human types of artists and thinkers”: the first is dominated by the figurative-concrete signal system, the second - the abstract-generalized speech. In its pure form, none oftypes of temperament is impossible, perhaps, to find in anyone.
There are two types of classification - artificial and natural. IN artificial classification one or more easily distinguishable features are taken as a basis. It is created and applied to solve practical problems when the main thing is usability and simplicity. The already mentioned classification system adopted in ancient China was also an artificial classification. Linnaeus of all worm-like organisms combined into one group Vermes. This group includes extremely different animals: from simple round (nematodes) and earthworms to snakes. Linnaeus's classification also belongs to the category of artificial ones, since it did not take into account important natural relationships - in particular, the fact that snakes, for example, have a spine, and earthworm it is not. In fact, snakes have more in common with other vertebrates than worms. An example of an artificial classification is their division into freshwater, marine and fish inhabiting brackish water bodies. This classification is based on the preference of these animals for certain environmental conditions. This division is convenient for studying the mechanisms of osmoregulation. Similarly, all organisms that can be seen with the help are called microorganisms (Section 2.2), thus uniting them into a single group that is convenient for study, but does not reflect natural relationships.
Natural classification Is an attempt to exploit the natural relationships between organisms. In this case, more data is taken into account than in an artificial classification, while not only external, but also internal signs are taken into account. The similarities in embryogenesis, morphology, anatomy, cellular structure and behavior are taken into account. Today, natural and phylogenetic classifications are used more often. Phylogenetic classification based on evolutionary relationships. In this system, according to existing concepts, organisms with a common ancestor are united into one group. The phylogeny (evolutionary history) of a particular group can be represented in the form of a family tree, such as, for example, as shown in Fig. 2.3.
Figure: 2.3. The evolutionary tree of life, covering five kingdoms according to the classification of Margelis and Schwartz (section 2.2). The length of the lines does not reflect the duration of the corresponding period.
Along with the classifications already considered, there is also phenotypic classification... This classification is an attempt to avoid the problem of establishing an evolutionary relationship, which is sometimes very difficult and very controversial, especially in cases where the required fossil remains are too few or not at all. The word "phenotypic" comes from the Greek. phainomenon, i.e. "What we see." This classification is based solely on external, i.e. visible, traits (phenotypic similarity), and all considered traits are considered equally important. The most varied signs of an organism can be taken into account according to the principle the more the better. And they don't have to reflect evolutionary relationships. When a certain amount of data is accumulated, the degree of similarity between different organisms is calculated from this data; this is usually done using a computer, since the calculations are extremely complex. The use of computers for this purpose is called numerical taxonomy. Phenotypic classifications often resemble phylogenetic ones, although such a goal is not pursued during their creation.
ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION
ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION
classification, in a cut the arrangement of concepts in the classification. the scheme occurs on the basis of the similarity or difference between the objects of concepts in insignificant, albeit own, signs. I. K. often plays a role initial stage in relation to the natural classification and does not replace it until the creatures are discovered. connections of objects. An example of I. to. Is a botanist. Linnaeus, based on such traits as the method of joining stamens in a plant flower. The term "I. to." often used along with the term "auxiliary", denoting such a construction of the classification. schemes, with which the concepts are located according to their purely external, but easily visible signs. This makes it easier to search for concepts in the schema and find matches. items. The most common are auxiliary. classification based on the alphabetical arrangement of concept names: alphabetical catalogs in libraries, the arrangement of surnames in various lists, etc. Cm. Classification (in formal logic) and lit. under this article.
B. Yakushin. Moscow.
Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. Edited by F. V. Konstantinov. 1960-1970 .
See what "ARTIFICIAL CLASSIFICATION" is in other dictionaries:
Multi-stage, branched division of the logical scope of the concept. The result of K. is a system of subordinate concepts: the divisible concept is a genus, new concepts are species, species of species (subspecies), etc. The most complex and perfect K. ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
logical classification - CLASSIFICATION LOGICAL (from Lat. Classis category, class and facio I do, lay out) a special kind of division (taxonomic or mereological) or a system of divisions. Taxonomic division is a selection within the scope of the concept of subclasses ...
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A breakdown of many organisms based on their characteristics according to a certain system of hierarchically subordinate groups - taxa (classes, families, genera, species, etc.). Distinguish between natural and artificial classification. Natural, or ... ... Microbiology Dictionary
This term has other meanings, see Neural network (disambiguation). Simple neural network diagram. Input neurons are green, hidden neurons are blue, output neurons are yellow ... Wikipedia
The "Neural Network" request is redirected here. Cm. also other meanings. Simple neural network diagram. Green denotes input elements, yellow denotes an output element Artificial neural networks (ANN) mathematical models, as well as their software or ... ... Wikipedia
Multi-stage, branched division of the logical scope of the concept. The result of K. is a system of subordinate concepts: the divisible concept is a genus, new concepts are species, types of species (subspecies), etc. The most complex and perfect K. ... ... Glossary of Logic Terms
Classification of organisms according to randomly selected characteristics, which has a purely applied value. Geological Dictionary: in 2 volumes. M .: Nedra. Edited by K. N. Paffengolts and others. 1978 ... Geological encyclopedia
Exists two types of classification - artificial and natural. In artificial classification one or more easily distinguishable features are taken as a basis. It is created and applied to solve practical problems, when the main thing is usability and simplicity.
Artificial classification there was also the already mentioned classification system adopted in ancient China. Linnaeus of all worm-like organisms combined into one group Vermes. This group includes extremely different animals: from simple round (nematodes) and earthworms to snakes. Linnaeus's classification also belongs to the category of artificial, since it did not take into account important natural relationships - in particular, the fact that snakes, for example, have a spine, but an earthworm does not. In fact, snakes have more in common with other vertebrates than worms. An example of an artificial classification of fish is their division into freshwater, marine and fish inhabiting brackish water bodies.
This classification based on the preference of these animals for certain environmental conditions.
The evolutionary tree of life, covering five kingdoms according to the classification of Margelis and Schwartz. The length of the lines does not reflect the duration of the corresponding period.This division is convenient for studying the mechanisms of osmoregulation. Similarly, all organismsthat can be seen with a microscope are called microorganisms, thus combining them into a single group that is convenient for study, but does not reflect natural relationships.
Natural classification is an attempt to exploit the natural relationships between organisms. In this case, more data is taken into account than in an artificial classification, while not only external, but also internal signs are taken into account. The similarities in embryogenesis, morphology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, cellular structure and behavior are taken into account. Today, natural and phylogenetic classifications are used more often. Phylogenetic classification is based on evolutionary relationships. In this system, according to existing concepts, organisms with a common ancestor are united into one group.
Phylogeny (evolutionary history) or another group can be represented in the form of a family tree, such as, for example, as shown in the figure.
Along with the already considered classifications there is also a phenotypic classification. Such classification is an attempt to avoid the problem of establishing an evolutionary relationship, which is sometimes very difficult and very contradictory, especially in cases where the necessary fossil remains are too few or not at all. The word "phenotypic" comes from the Greek. phainomenon, that is, "what we see." This classification is based solely on external, i.e., visible, traits (phenotypic similarity), with all traits taken into account considered equally important. The most varied signs of an organism can be taken into account according to the principle the more the better. And they don't have to reflect evolutionary relationships. When a certain amount of data is accumulated, the degree of similarity between different organisms is calculated from this data; this is usually done using a computer, since the calculations are extremely complex. The use of computers for this purpose has come to be known as numerical taxonomy. Phenotypic classifications often resemble phylogenetic ones, although such a goal is not pursued during their creation.