Re: Terminology defs
| From: | Bryan Maloney <bjm10@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, September 13, 1999, 15:51 |
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On Mon, 13 Sep 1999, Tom Wier wrote:
> (Also -- there's no particular reason to single out linguistic "rules" as
> somehow methodologically inferior to those of the physical sciences.
"Rule" implies a legislator--it's teleological. In biology, we've
stopped using "law" and "rule" whenever possible. Instead, we refer to
"trait" or "characteristic", far less teleological. Unless one is
referring specifically to a system wherein there *is* a "legislator" of
some sort, "rule" or "law" is unnecessarily teleological and proscribptive
language. "Trait" does not carry such baggage.