帝国博物学背景下林奈与布丰的体系之争

The Controversy over the Natural System in the Context of Imperial Natural History: Linnaeus and Buffon

18世纪,地理大发现、帝国扩张客观上为欧洲带来了海量的异域物种,促进了博物学的发展,要求博物学范式的统一。林奈和布丰当时最重要的两个博物学家,二者均致力于自然秩序的理解与探寻,在对自然秩序的理解上却以不同的方式影响了后人。林奈的贡献在于性分类体系、分类、命名、植物学拉丁语等方面的改革,为博物学统一范式的建立奠定了基础,他的体系简洁、明了,更重现实应用及传播,契合了帝国博物学所需;布丰的体系则强调自然的多样性、连续性,却在体系之争中略逊一筹。但无疑,二者对自然秩序的探寻共同为博物学的发展指明了未来的方向。

As more and more exotic species were discovered during the age of exploration and empire extending in the 18th century, Natural History developed fast, which called for unity in its paradigms. Both Linnaeus and Buffon, the two most important naturalists of that period, devoted themselves to finding and understanding the order of Nature, and both held sway over posterity in different ways. Linnaeus contributed much to the reformation of Natural History in the fields of sexual system, classification, nomenclature and botanical Latin, all of which had also laid the foundation for the unity of paradigms in the field. His system had the characteristics of simplicity and practical applicability and therefore met the requirements of imperial Natural History. Buffon’s system, on the other hand, paid much attention to Nature’s diversity and continuity, and it was less influential than Linnaeus’s. There is no doubt that their work had provided a direction for the development of Natural History.