Understanding affinity : Locke on generation and the task of classification

Locke’s theory of classification is a subject that has long received scholarly attention. Relatively little notice has been taken, however, of the special problems that were posed for taxonomy by its inability to account for organic processes in general. Classification, designed originally as an exercise in logic, becomes immediately complicated once it turns to organic life and the aims of taxonomy become thereby caught up with the special problems of generation, variation, and inheritance. Locke’s own experience with organic processes – experience garnered through his early work in both botany and medicine – suggested to him both the dynamism of nature and the necessary artificiality of an a priori system of classification. These early reflections thus reinforced his critique of classification in the Essay Concerning Human Understanding, and by tracing their influence it is possible to approach Locke’s nominalism from a fresh perspective.