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Why does treating a species as an individual create problems for scientific laws?

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Marble bust of Aristotle with a beard and draped robe, showing detailed facial features and wavy hair, set against a dark background. — Philosophy of biology Detail of a Roman copy (2nd century bce) of a Greek alabaster portrait bust of Aristotle, c. 325 bce; in the collection of the Roman National Museum.

In the philosophy of biology, treating a species as an individual rather than a group creates significant problems for the application of scientific laws.

The primary issue is that scientific laws are generally understood to apply to categories or kinds of things, whereas they do not apply to single, unique individuals. If a species like Homo sapiens is conceptualized as an individual—a "super-organism"—then it lacks the status of a general class that can be governed by universal laws.1

This creates a logical barrier:
* Inapplicability of Laws: No scientific law applies exclusively to a single individual. If a species is an individual, it cannot be the subject of a law, which potentially renders fields like social science problematic if they are restricted to the study of a single species-individual.1
* Conceptual Conflict: While conventional views allow for laws regarding species (such as the tendency for geographically isolated groups to speciate), these laws rely on species being treated as groups. Reclassifying them as individuals removes the basis for these generalizations.1