Machine derived contents note: Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Part I. The Rise of Essentialist Taxonomy: 1. The Aristotelian origins; 2. Taxonomy; 3. Nomenclature; Part II. The Development of the Universal Languages: 4. The groundwork; 5. Proposals and schemes for a universal language; 6. Proposals for a philosophical language; 7. Schemes for a philosophical language; 8. The culmination, aftermath and end; Part III. The End of the Taxonomic Episteme: 9. The fall of essentialist taxonomy; Notes; Bibliography; Index