On biological systematics and "True Trees of Life"

The "new" (actually pre-scientific) approach in biological systematics that is called "cladistics" rests on the idea, actually belief, that "there is a single True Tree of Life" (which thus is possible for us to find).

This belief may appear sensible in the light of Darwin's theory "on the origin of species", but is actually an illusion emerging from a combination of Darwin's theory and a generally typological approach. The illusion is, however, not easy to disclose.

The problem with the belief resides in that such "True Tree" in practice is a trace backwards in time from the situation today, and that the situation today in practice can be classified in several different, but just as "true" ways, because it means that there are several True Trees of Life per definition. The fact that the situation today thus in practice is ambiguous, moreover means that the possible "True Trees" in practice are contradictory. (The idea (ie, belief) that there should be a single unambiguous classification of the situation today is falsified by the fact that classification is inherently orthogonal and thus ultimately paradoxically contradictory, also shown by Russell's paradox).

The problem with the cladistic belief is thus not that there isn't a single True Tree of Life, but that there are several contradictory True Trees of Life. The problem with this fact for the belief is that the fact that these True Trees of Life are contradictory means that they can't be consistently summarized in a single True Tree of Life, but can instead only be consistently assembled in an orthogonal system of classification, like the Linnean systematics (and thus also evolutionary taxonomy).

It means that the founding idea (ie, belief) for cladistics, ie, that "there is a single True Tree of Life" (which thus is possible for us to find), is wrong. Fact is that there is no such thing to be found. Instead, there are several contradictory True Trees of Life which can only be consistently (coherently) assembled using an orthogonal system of classification, like the Linnean systematics (and thus also evolutionary taxonomy). Cladistics is thus an erroneous belief in a single True Tree of Life, whereas Linnean systematics is a consistent (coherent) assembly of the True Trees of Life.