Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content

The Puzzling Role of Philosophy in Life Sciences

Bases for a Joint Program for Philosophy and History of Science

  • Chapter
Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science

Part of the book series: Logic, Epistemology, And The Unity Of Science ((LEUS,volume 1))

  • 318 Accesses

Abstract

We identify and analyze the main causes of the great methodological activity observed in life sciences, a fact that is evident from the appearance of continue philosophical contributions in leader biological journals. Though this activity refutes in some way the postkuhnean dictum “philosophy of science methodologically oriented is old fashion”, it does not constitute by itself a vein to extract uncontaminated methodological rules in order to build an unbiased philosophy of science. However, the peculiar situation that we describe can serve as example of fruit collaboration between science and philosophy and give a new perspective with regard to the up to now traumatic relationships between history and philosophy of science.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ayala, F.: 1970, ‘Teleological Explanations in Evolutionary Biology’, Philosophy of Science, March.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boorse, Chr.: 1977, ‘Health as a Theoretical Concept’, Philosophy of Science, 44, 542–573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, Ned.: 1997, ‘Race, Gènes et IQ’, La Recherche 294, 50–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairn et al.: 1988, ‘The Origin of Mutants’, Nature 335, 142–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crick, F.: 1958, ‘On Protein Synthesis’, Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol. 12, 138–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, R.: 1976, The Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devillers, C.: 1985, ‘Quelques remises en cause de la théoerie synthétique de l'Evolution’, Ann. Biol. 24, 153–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diez, J. and U. C. Moulines: 1999, Fundamentos de Filosofia de la Ciencia, ed., Barcelona, Ariel, pp. 20–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dozhansky, T.: 1937, Genetics and the Origins of Species, Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge, N.: 1993, ‘History, Function, and Evolutionary Biology’, Evolutionary Biology 27, 33–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould S. and N. Eldredge: 1977, ‘Punctuated Equilibria: The Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered’, Paleobiology 3, 115–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S. G.: 1982, ‘Darwinism and the Expansion of Evolutionary Theory’, Science 216, 380–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grassé, P. P.: 1978, Biologie moléculaire, mutagènese et evolution, Paris, Masson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J. and Ch. Murray: 1993, The Bell Curve, New York, The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hersher, L.: 1988, ‘On the Absence of Revolutions in Biology’, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 31(3), 318–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, D.: 1974, Philosophy of Biological Science, Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, D.: 1980, ‘Individuality and Selection’, Annual Reviw of Ecology and Systematics 11, 311–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huxley, J.: 1942, Evolution, the Modern Synthesis, Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacob, F. and J. Monod: 1961, ‘Genetic Regulatory Mechanisms in the Synthesis of Proteins’, Journal of Molecular Biology 3, 318–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaufmann, S.: 1993, The Origins of the Order: Self-organization and Selection in Evolution, Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimura, M.: 1979, ‘The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution’, Scientific American 241, 94–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, J. L. and Jukes, T. H.: 1969, ‘Non Darwinian Evolution’, Science 164, 788–798.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, D.: 1969, Conventions, Ch. 5, Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovtrup, S.: 1987, Darwinism: the Refutation of a Myth, Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E.: 1942, Systematics and the Origins of Species, Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E.: 1965, ‘Cause and Effect in Biology’, in Cause and Effect, New York, Free Press, pp. 33–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPhee, D.: 1993, ‘Directed Evolution Reconsidered’, American Scientist 81, 554–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruse, M.: 1973, The Philosophy of Biology, Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scriven, M.: 1959, ‘Explanation and Prediction in Evolutionary Theory’, Science, 130, 477–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, G. G.: 1944, Tempo and Mode in Evolution, Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stebbins L. and F. Ayala: 1980, ‘Is a New Evolutionary Synthesis Necessary?’, Science 213, 967–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, M.: 1970, ‘Deducing the Consequences of Evolution: A Mathematical Model’, Journal of Theoretical Biology 29, 343–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodger, J. H.: 1952, Biology and Language, Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Torres, J.M. (2009). The Puzzling Role of Philosophy in Life Sciences. In: Rahman, S., Symons, J., Gabbay, D.M., Bendegem, J.P.v. (eds) Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science. Logic, Epistemology, And The Unity Of Science, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2808-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-2808-3_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-2486-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2808-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics