[tcs-lc] TCS/LC Name Domain

[Martin Pullan]

Gregor stated,

>Can we define when someone intends to define a new concept, when
someone 
>intends to apply a concept in an identification, and when something is 
>undefined? I believe 99% of biological knowledge is in the latter
category.

I completely agree with this sentiment and it is the reason why I have
always been wary of retrospective attempts to use concepts - for most
cases of existing biological information storage, the concept is simply
not known and in the majority of cases trying to map name usage to known
existing concepts will probably be fruitless. It is also why I prefer
the idea of classifications rather than simply concepts. 

To my mind a classification is a framework within which an
identification can be made. When applying a classification in essence
the NON-TAXONOMIC user of the classification is asking the following
question:

"Given the rules of inclusion specified in the classification if the
person who constructed the classification I am now using were to be
presented with the specimen I am now considering, in which taxon would
THEY place the specimen."

I.e. the intention of the identifier being to place the specimen within
an existing framework and not to in any way modify that framework by
performing the identification. 

The question then becomes one of when a publication represents a
classification. From an identification standpoint to the non-expert the
publication a single species is no use for identification as there is no
context within which to compare the specimen against other related taxa.


I think dets. are a special case of identification. They are usually
performed by taxonomic experts with no direct reference to any
particular classification. In this case the context for the
identification will be provided by the accumulated knowledge stored
within the experts head. Yet again it will be impossible to identify the
actual concepts that were in force when the determination was made. In
this sense dets. are a somewhat degenerate form of identification. 

Martin