The current system of biological classification and nomenclature (the "Linnaean system"), as developed over the past two and a half centuries, has been criticized of late as being inconsistent with scientific thought. Under the banner of "phylogenetic systematics," critics have claimed that the Linnaean system is incompatible with modern phylogenetics, and have proposed an alternative, the "Phylocode," or PC nomenclatural system, which is intended to supplant the Linnaean system. Proponents of the PC system have asserted that the Linnaean system is fatally incompatible with evolutionary theory, that it inhibits scientific inquiry, that the PC system, in contrast, is a necessary component of the ongoing evolutionary synthesis, and that it also will provide greater nomenclatural stability. In this symposium, systematists who use the Linnaean system will evaluate its philosophical underpinnings, goals, and practical utility, and compare its qualities to those of the proposed PC system. Specific arguments made by proponents of the PC system will be considered, and the relative merits of the Linnaean and PC systems will be evaluated with regard to a variety of subdisciplines within systematics, including monography, floristics, paleobotany, cladistics, and the use of nomenclatural types

Key words: cladistics, Linnaean nomenclature, phylocode, phylogenetics, taxonomy