El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde tempr... more El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde temprano en la historia del pensamiento. Desde los tiempos de Aristóteles dos modelos conceptuales antitéticos se han utilizado tradicionalmente para comprender la embriogénesis: o el embrión posee ya una forma o estructura, o ésta se forma de nuevo en cada generación. Nuestro objetivo en este artículo es mostrar que el contraste entre la posición preformacionista y epigenética persiste a pesar de los formidables avances teóricos y experimentales de la biología del desarrollo contemporánea. El preformacionismo y la epigénesis han perfeccionado constantemente sus posiciones en el curso de la historia con el fin de responder a los retos conceptuales de la época. Este continuo proceso de transformación ha dado lugar a una convergencia parcial entre las dos posiciones. Sin embargo, vamos a argumentar que, a pesar de los esfuerzos por conciliar ambas posturas, esta antinomia, que se erige como una...
In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretatio... more In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretation can make sense of biotic entrenchment, the process of assimilation and functional integration of environmental elements of biotic origin in development and, eventually, evolution. In order to achieve the aims of our analysis, we shall focus on multi-species partnerships, biological systems characterised by ontogenetic dependencies of various strengths between the partners. Our main research question is to tackle the foundational problem posed by the dynamics of biotic entrenchment characterising multi-species partnerships for the closure of constraints interpretation, namely, to understand for which biological system (i.e., the partners taken individually or the partnership as the encompassing system) closure of constraints is realised. Through the analysis of significant illustrative examples, we shall progressively refine the closure thesis and articulate an answer to our main research question. We shall also propose that biotic entrenchment provides a chief example of the phenomenon of interactive and horizontal construction of biological individuality and inter-identity.
El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde tempr... more El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde temprano en la historia del pensamiento. Desde los tiempos de Aristóteles dos modelos conceptuales antitéticos se han utilizado tradicionalmente para comprender la embriogénesis: o el embrión posee ya una forma o estructura, o ésta se forma de nuevo en cada generación. Nuestro objetivo en este artículo es mostrar que el contraste entre la posición preformacionista y epigenética persiste a pesar de los formidables avances teóricos y experimentales de la biología del desarrollo contemporánea. El preformacionismo y la epigénesis han perfeccionado constantemente sus posiciones en el curso de la historia con el fin de responder a los retos conceptuales de la época. Este continuo proceso de transformación ha dado lugar a una convergencia parcial entre las dos posiciones. Sin embargo, vamos a argumentar que, a pesar de los esfuerzos por conciliar ambas posturas, esta antinomia, que se erige como una de las más fundamentales de la biología, no será fácil de superar. Palabras-clave • Embrión. Preformación. Epigénesis. Determinante. Campo morfogenético. Morfogen. Mosaicismo. Regulación.
In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the no... more In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the notion of "major transition" to refer to any major change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so asso...
In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to f... more In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition.” A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals e...
Le theme de l’individuation et de la persistance des entites vivantes constitue l’une des problem... more Le theme de l’individuation et de la persistance des entites vivantes constitue l’une des problematiques centrales de la philosophie de la biologie. Dans les sciences du vivant, l’organisme represente traditionnellement l’exemple paradigmatique de l’individu biologique. Toutefois, malgre le lien intuitif entre l’organisme et l’individu, la biologie contemporaine a su faire un usage plus large du concept d’individu. Ainsi, la circonscription de ce qui etait apprehende comme appartenant au vivant a ete elargie par la reconnaissance de plusieurs types d’individus biologiques, parmi lesquels nous trouvons non seulement les organismes dits « traditionnels », mais egalement toute une variete d’entites telles que des protistes, des molecules d’ARN, des prions, des virus et des bacteries de toutes sortes. Par ailleurs, cette nouvelle vision de l’individu biologique a ete utilisee afin d’illustrer les differents niveaux de l’organisation biologique. En ce sens, la discussion porte principale...
In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying
to f... more In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition". A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals enter into relationships that intrinsically transform them, a transformation sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”, that is, a new level of organismality.
'Inter-identities' in Life, Mind, and Society, 2019
In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretatio... more In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretation can make sense of biotic entrenchment, the process of assimilation and functional integration of environmental elements of biotic origin in development and, eventually, evolution. In order to achieve the aims of our analysis, we shall focus on multi-species partnerships, biological systems characterised by ontogenetic dependencies of various strengths between the partners. Our main research question is to tackle the foundational problem posed by the dynamics of biotic entrenchment characterising multi-species partnerships for the closure of constraints interpretation, namely, to understand for which biological system (i.e., the partners taken individually or the partnership as the encompassing system) closure of constraints is realised. Through the analysis of significant illustrative examples, we shall progressively refine the closure thesis and articulate an answer to our main research question. We shall also propose that biotic entrenchment provides a chief example of the phenomenon of interactive and horizontal construction of biological individuality and inter-identity. The characterisation of the criteria for the individuation of developing and evolving living entities is one of the main issues in the philosophy of biology and theoretical biology. From a Darwinian perspective, based on the notion of unit of selection, organisms represent just one individual amongst many possible types. This notion should be contrasted to that of physiological individual focused on functional integration 1. The autopoietic approach is an important instance of the latter. Autopoiesis, as its name suggests (a term with Greek etymology from auto = self and poiesis = production), is a theory characterising organismal life in 1 Physiological and evolutionary accounts are complementary and, sometimes, integrative. For instance, Queller and Strassmann (2016) characterise individuality as the achievement of functional adaptive coherence or "organismality, " a property of biological systems that is not categorical but continuous. Conversely, some physiological accounts take into account the evolutionary dimension of biological individuality, especially insofar as the origin of new organisations is concerned (Moreno and Mossio, 2015).
PARTI, INSIEMI E SISTEMI. IL CONCETTO DI EMERGENZA IN FILOSOFIA / PARTS, WHOLES AND SYSTEMS. THE CONCEPT OF EMERGENCE IN PHILOSOPHY, 2019
In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the no... more In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the notion of “major transition” to refer to any major change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so associated that they are able to make emerge a new level of individuality. A major evolutionary transition is thus explained as a phenomenon of evolution of complexity that takes a different path from that of classical evolution. In this study we will therefore focus on the emergence of biological individuality. The emergence of a new biological level testifies to the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals while changing their constitution as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals engage in relationships that transform them intrinsically, a transformation that must be sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”.
Biologists and philosophers often use the language of determination in order to describe the natu... more Biologists and philosophers often use the language of determination in order to describe the nature of developmental phenomena. Accounts in terms of determination have often been reductionist. One common idea is that DNA is supposed to play a special explanatory role in developmental explanations, namely, that DNA is a developmental determinant. In this article we try to make sense of determination claims in developmental biology. Adopting a manipulationist approach, we shall first argue that the notion of developmental determinant is causal. We suggest that two different theses concerning developmental determination can be articulated: determination of occurrence and structural determination. We shall argue that, while the first thesis is problematic, the second, opportunely qualified, is feasible. Finally, we shall argue that an analysis of biological causation in terms of determination cannot account for entangled dynamics. Characterising causal entanglement as a particular kind of interactive causation whereby difference-making causes ascribable to different levels of biological organisation influence a particular ontogenetic outcome, we shall, via two illustrative examples, diagnose some potential limits of a reductionist, molecular and intra-level understanding of biological causation.
The process of development inspired philosophical speculation since the advent of Western thought... more The process of development inspired philosophical speculation since the advent of Western thought. Since the time of Aristotle two antithetical conceptual models have traditionally been used to understand embryogenesis: either form is preformed in the embryo or it is newly formed at each generation. Our aim in this article is to show that the contrast between the preformationist and epigenetic positions persists despite he formidable theoretical and experimental advances of contemporary developmental biology. Preformationism and epigenesis have constantly refined their positions in the course of history in order to answer the conceptual challenges of their age. This process of continuous transformation has resulted in a partial convergence of the two positions. However, we shall argue that, despite the partial successes of this process of continuous convergence, one of the most fundamental antinomies in biology persists.
El concepto de organismo, fundamentalmente a lo largo del siglo pasado, ha sufrido una paulatina ... more El concepto de organismo, fundamentalmente a lo largo del siglo pasado, ha sufrido una paulatina desaparición del discurso biológico, siendo desplazado por un discurso que favorece las explicaciones reduccionistas de los procesos vivientes. Un tal desplazamiento viene propiciado a su vez por un triunfo de la técnica y la manipulación del objeto biológico, lo que tiende a interpretarse como una muestra de genuina naturalización de esta disciplina. No obstante, la pérdida del concepto de organismo, el que históricamente ha servido para denotar la especificidad de lo viviente, tiene un impacto no menor sobre esta disciplina y se puede resumir como la pérdida de la particularidad de su objeto, aquél que le da vida y que constituye en sus cimientos a la biología propiamente tal. En esta investigación se analizan las bases epistémicas que dan voz a este problema junto a las consecuencias de sostener una tesis estrictamente reduccionista en biología. Esto lo hemos efectuado a través de una reconstrucción conceptual e histórica de los fundamentos filosóficos que están detrás de cada concepto que ha nutrido a la biología desde su pre-constitución como disciplina científica. Finalmente en esta investigación se describe la actualidad de la problemática y se argumenta la necesidad de re-introducir el concepto de organismo en el discurso biológico desde un prisma contemporáneo, en donde se discute la importancia de denotar al objeto viviente desde su particularidad.
The theme about individuation and persistence of living entities is one of the central issues in ... more The theme about individuation and persistence of living entities is one of the central issues in the philosophy of biology. Embrace the different types of entities inhabiting the biological world, as the tentative to define their limits well, question biological ontology directly. In this perspective, it is important to focus first on the place occupied by the organism in biology. In the life sciences, the organism represents traditionally the paradigmatic example of the biological individual. However, it is important to emphasize that, despite the intuitive connection between the organism and the individual, contemporary biology has been able to make wider use of the concept of the individual. Thus, the contours of what was apprehended as belonging to the living world has been enlarged by the recognition of several types of biological individuals, among which we find not only so-called "traditional" organisms, but also a variety of entities such as protists, RNA molecules, prions, viruses and bacteria of all kinds. In addition, this new vision of the biological individual has been used to illustrate the different levels of biological organization. This idea is confirmed by the logical structure of the principle of natural selection, which is sufficiently abstract to be applied at all levels of biological organization. Thus the notion of “unit of selection” has become the most common criterion as defining a biological individual, emphasizing its evolutionary character. An individual corresponds, according to this vision, to an entity subject to the force of natural selection, whose causal power acts on this unity as a whole. In this sense, the discussion focuses on the level - genes, cells, organisms, superorganisms, species, ecosystems - where selection acts, in which the organism can be considered a simple level between a variety of levels of selection. Consequently, the extension of the limits of biological ontology allowed, on the one hand, to question the concept of the individual by releasing it from the reference to the organism, and on the other hand, to relativize the importance of the organism within the biological discourse. From there, philosophers and biologists question the necessity of erecting organisms as an indispensable category for thinking about life. However, we argue that, to contribute to the development of biological individuality theme, we must give voice to another discourse on individuality, which emerges from discussions on the ontology of organisms. It is towards the systemic tradition that we must turn our attention, in order to extend research on the nature of biological individuality in the light of a renewed definition of the organism. Thus, we assumes an important distinction between two non-exclusive biological tendencies about the problem of the biological individual: the Darwinian individual on one side, and the ontogenetic individual on the other. In an ontogenetic approach, an individual, far from being the entity that undergoes the action of selection during evolutionary time, corresponds to the entity that self-determines during its individual life time. Thus, this approach is not based on a hierarchical evolutionary vision in which the organism represents a simple level of analysis between a plurality of biological individuals. On the contrary, it is based on a more physiological conception, centered on biological organization. The question of the ontology of organisms then takes the form of an inquiry into the peculiarity of this form of biological individuality which is, since Kant, characterized by natural objects made of things related into “the unity of a whole by being reciprocally cause and effect of their form”.
El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde tempr... more El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde temprano en la historia del pensamiento. Desde los tiempos de Aristóteles dos modelos conceptuales antitéticos se han utilizado tradicionalmente para comprender la embriogénesis: o el embrión posee ya una forma o estructura, o ésta se forma de nuevo en cada generación. Nuestro objetivo en este artículo es mostrar que el contraste entre la posición preformacionista y epigenética persiste a pesar de los formidables avances teóricos y experimentales de la biología del desarrollo contemporánea. El preformacionismo y la epigénesis han perfeccionado constantemente sus posiciones en el curso de la historia con el fin de responder a los retos conceptuales de la época. Este continuo proceso de transformación ha dado lugar a una convergencia parcial entre las dos posiciones. Sin embargo, vamos a argumentar que, a pesar de los esfuerzos por conciliar ambas posturas, esta antinomia, que se erige como una...
In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretatio... more In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretation can make sense of biotic entrenchment, the process of assimilation and functional integration of environmental elements of biotic origin in development and, eventually, evolution. In order to achieve the aims of our analysis, we shall focus on multi-species partnerships, biological systems characterised by ontogenetic dependencies of various strengths between the partners. Our main research question is to tackle the foundational problem posed by the dynamics of biotic entrenchment characterising multi-species partnerships for the closure of constraints interpretation, namely, to understand for which biological system (i.e., the partners taken individually or the partnership as the encompassing system) closure of constraints is realised. Through the analysis of significant illustrative examples, we shall progressively refine the closure thesis and articulate an answer to our main research question. We shall also propose that biotic entrenchment provides a chief example of the phenomenon of interactive and horizontal construction of biological individuality and inter-identity.
El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde tempr... more El desarrollo embriológico es un fenómeno que ha inspirado la especulación filosófica desde temprano en la historia del pensamiento. Desde los tiempos de Aristóteles dos modelos conceptuales antitéticos se han utilizado tradicionalmente para comprender la embriogénesis: o el embrión posee ya una forma o estructura, o ésta se forma de nuevo en cada generación. Nuestro objetivo en este artículo es mostrar que el contraste entre la posición preformacionista y epigenética persiste a pesar de los formidables avances teóricos y experimentales de la biología del desarrollo contemporánea. El preformacionismo y la epigénesis han perfeccionado constantemente sus posiciones en el curso de la historia con el fin de responder a los retos conceptuales de la época. Este continuo proceso de transformación ha dado lugar a una convergencia parcial entre las dos posiciones. Sin embargo, vamos a argumentar que, a pesar de los esfuerzos por conciliar ambas posturas, esta antinomia, que se erige como una de las más fundamentales de la biología, no será fácil de superar. Palabras-clave • Embrión. Preformación. Epigénesis. Determinante. Campo morfogenético. Morfogen. Mosaicismo. Regulación.
In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the no... more In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the notion of "major transition" to refer to any major change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so asso...
In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to f... more In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition.” A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals e...
Le theme de l’individuation et de la persistance des entites vivantes constitue l’une des problem... more Le theme de l’individuation et de la persistance des entites vivantes constitue l’une des problematiques centrales de la philosophie de la biologie. Dans les sciences du vivant, l’organisme represente traditionnellement l’exemple paradigmatique de l’individu biologique. Toutefois, malgre le lien intuitif entre l’organisme et l’individu, la biologie contemporaine a su faire un usage plus large du concept d’individu. Ainsi, la circonscription de ce qui etait apprehende comme appartenant au vivant a ete elargie par la reconnaissance de plusieurs types d’individus biologiques, parmi lesquels nous trouvons non seulement les organismes dits « traditionnels », mais egalement toute une variete d’entites telles que des protistes, des molecules d’ARN, des prions, des virus et des bacteries de toutes sortes. Par ailleurs, cette nouvelle vision de l’individu biologique a ete utilisee afin d’illustrer les differents niveaux de l’organisation biologique. En ce sens, la discussion porte principale...
In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying
to f... more In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition". A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals enter into relationships that intrinsically transform them, a transformation sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”, that is, a new level of organismality.
'Inter-identities' in Life, Mind, and Society, 2019
In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretatio... more In this article, we propose to critically evaluate whether a closure of constraints interpretation can make sense of biotic entrenchment, the process of assimilation and functional integration of environmental elements of biotic origin in development and, eventually, evolution. In order to achieve the aims of our analysis, we shall focus on multi-species partnerships, biological systems characterised by ontogenetic dependencies of various strengths between the partners. Our main research question is to tackle the foundational problem posed by the dynamics of biotic entrenchment characterising multi-species partnerships for the closure of constraints interpretation, namely, to understand for which biological system (i.e., the partners taken individually or the partnership as the encompassing system) closure of constraints is realised. Through the analysis of significant illustrative examples, we shall progressively refine the closure thesis and articulate an answer to our main research question. We shall also propose that biotic entrenchment provides a chief example of the phenomenon of interactive and horizontal construction of biological individuality and inter-identity. The characterisation of the criteria for the individuation of developing and evolving living entities is one of the main issues in the philosophy of biology and theoretical biology. From a Darwinian perspective, based on the notion of unit of selection, organisms represent just one individual amongst many possible types. This notion should be contrasted to that of physiological individual focused on functional integration 1. The autopoietic approach is an important instance of the latter. Autopoiesis, as its name suggests (a term with Greek etymology from auto = self and poiesis = production), is a theory characterising organismal life in 1 Physiological and evolutionary accounts are complementary and, sometimes, integrative. For instance, Queller and Strassmann (2016) characterise individuality as the achievement of functional adaptive coherence or "organismality, " a property of biological systems that is not categorical but continuous. Conversely, some physiological accounts take into account the evolutionary dimension of biological individuality, especially insofar as the origin of new organisations is concerned (Moreno and Mossio, 2015).
PARTI, INSIEMI E SISTEMI. IL CONCETTO DI EMERGENZA IN FILOSOFIA / PARTS, WHOLES AND SYSTEMS. THE CONCEPT OF EMERGENCE IN PHILOSOPHY, 2019
In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the no... more In the book The major transitions in evolution, Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry introduce the notion of “major transition” to refer to any major change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so associated that they are able to make emerge a new level of individuality. A major evolutionary transition is thus explained as a phenomenon of evolution of complexity that takes a different path from that of classical evolution. In this study we will therefore focus on the emergence of biological individuality. The emergence of a new biological level testifies to the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals while changing their constitution as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals engage in relationships that transform them intrinsically, a transformation that must be sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”.
Biologists and philosophers often use the language of determination in order to describe the natu... more Biologists and philosophers often use the language of determination in order to describe the nature of developmental phenomena. Accounts in terms of determination have often been reductionist. One common idea is that DNA is supposed to play a special explanatory role in developmental explanations, namely, that DNA is a developmental determinant. In this article we try to make sense of determination claims in developmental biology. Adopting a manipulationist approach, we shall first argue that the notion of developmental determinant is causal. We suggest that two different theses concerning developmental determination can be articulated: determination of occurrence and structural determination. We shall argue that, while the first thesis is problematic, the second, opportunely qualified, is feasible. Finally, we shall argue that an analysis of biological causation in terms of determination cannot account for entangled dynamics. Characterising causal entanglement as a particular kind of interactive causation whereby difference-making causes ascribable to different levels of biological organisation influence a particular ontogenetic outcome, we shall, via two illustrative examples, diagnose some potential limits of a reductionist, molecular and intra-level understanding of biological causation.
The process of development inspired philosophical speculation since the advent of Western thought... more The process of development inspired philosophical speculation since the advent of Western thought. Since the time of Aristotle two antithetical conceptual models have traditionally been used to understand embryogenesis: either form is preformed in the embryo or it is newly formed at each generation. Our aim in this article is to show that the contrast between the preformationist and epigenetic positions persists despite he formidable theoretical and experimental advances of contemporary developmental biology. Preformationism and epigenesis have constantly refined their positions in the course of history in order to answer the conceptual challenges of their age. This process of continuous transformation has resulted in a partial convergence of the two positions. However, we shall argue that, despite the partial successes of this process of continuous convergence, one of the most fundamental antinomies in biology persists.
El concepto de organismo, fundamentalmente a lo largo del siglo pasado, ha sufrido una paulatina ... more El concepto de organismo, fundamentalmente a lo largo del siglo pasado, ha sufrido una paulatina desaparición del discurso biológico, siendo desplazado por un discurso que favorece las explicaciones reduccionistas de los procesos vivientes. Un tal desplazamiento viene propiciado a su vez por un triunfo de la técnica y la manipulación del objeto biológico, lo que tiende a interpretarse como una muestra de genuina naturalización de esta disciplina. No obstante, la pérdida del concepto de organismo, el que históricamente ha servido para denotar la especificidad de lo viviente, tiene un impacto no menor sobre esta disciplina y se puede resumir como la pérdida de la particularidad de su objeto, aquél que le da vida y que constituye en sus cimientos a la biología propiamente tal. En esta investigación se analizan las bases epistémicas que dan voz a este problema junto a las consecuencias de sostener una tesis estrictamente reduccionista en biología. Esto lo hemos efectuado a través de una reconstrucción conceptual e histórica de los fundamentos filosóficos que están detrás de cada concepto que ha nutrido a la biología desde su pre-constitución como disciplina científica. Finalmente en esta investigación se describe la actualidad de la problemática y se argumenta la necesidad de re-introducir el concepto de organismo en el discurso biológico desde un prisma contemporáneo, en donde se discute la importancia de denotar al objeto viviente desde su particularidad.
The theme about individuation and persistence of living entities is one of the central issues in ... more The theme about individuation and persistence of living entities is one of the central issues in the philosophy of biology. Embrace the different types of entities inhabiting the biological world, as the tentative to define their limits well, question biological ontology directly. In this perspective, it is important to focus first on the place occupied by the organism in biology. In the life sciences, the organism represents traditionally the paradigmatic example of the biological individual. However, it is important to emphasize that, despite the intuitive connection between the organism and the individual, contemporary biology has been able to make wider use of the concept of the individual. Thus, the contours of what was apprehended as belonging to the living world has been enlarged by the recognition of several types of biological individuals, among which we find not only so-called "traditional" organisms, but also a variety of entities such as protists, RNA molecules, prions, viruses and bacteria of all kinds. In addition, this new vision of the biological individual has been used to illustrate the different levels of biological organization. This idea is confirmed by the logical structure of the principle of natural selection, which is sufficiently abstract to be applied at all levels of biological organization. Thus the notion of “unit of selection” has become the most common criterion as defining a biological individual, emphasizing its evolutionary character. An individual corresponds, according to this vision, to an entity subject to the force of natural selection, whose causal power acts on this unity as a whole. In this sense, the discussion focuses on the level - genes, cells, organisms, superorganisms, species, ecosystems - where selection acts, in which the organism can be considered a simple level between a variety of levels of selection. Consequently, the extension of the limits of biological ontology allowed, on the one hand, to question the concept of the individual by releasing it from the reference to the organism, and on the other hand, to relativize the importance of the organism within the biological discourse. From there, philosophers and biologists question the necessity of erecting organisms as an indispensable category for thinking about life. However, we argue that, to contribute to the development of biological individuality theme, we must give voice to another discourse on individuality, which emerges from discussions on the ontology of organisms. It is towards the systemic tradition that we must turn our attention, in order to extend research on the nature of biological individuality in the light of a renewed definition of the organism. Thus, we assumes an important distinction between two non-exclusive biological tendencies about the problem of the biological individual: the Darwinian individual on one side, and the ontogenetic individual on the other. In an ontogenetic approach, an individual, far from being the entity that undergoes the action of selection during evolutionary time, corresponds to the entity that self-determines during its individual life time. Thus, this approach is not based on a hierarchical evolutionary vision in which the organism represents a simple level of analysis between a plurality of biological individuals. On the contrary, it is based on a more physiological conception, centered on biological organization. The question of the ontology of organisms then takes the form of an inquiry into the peculiarity of this form of biological individuality which is, since Kant, characterized by natural objects made of things related into “the unity of a whole by being reciprocally cause and effect of their form”.
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Papers by Isaac Hernandez
to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition". A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals enter into relationships that intrinsically transform them, a transformation sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”, that is, a new level of organismality.
change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so associated that they are able to make emerge a new level of individuality. A major evolutionary transition is thus explained as a phenomenon of evolution of complexity that takes a different path from that of classical evolution.
In this study we will therefore focus on the emergence of biological individuality. The emergence of a new biological level testifies to the
establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals while changing their constitution as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals engage in relationships that transform them intrinsically, a transformation that must be sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”.
traditionally been used to understand embryogenesis: either form is preformed in the embryo or it is newly formed at each generation. Our aim in this article is to show that
the contrast between the preformationist and epigenetic positions persists despite he formidable theoretical and experimental advances of contemporary developmental biology. Preformationism and epigenesis have constantly refined their positions in the course of history in order to answer the conceptual challenges of their age. This process of continuous transformation has resulted in a partial convergence of the two positions. However, we shall argue that, despite the partial successes of this process of continuous convergence, one of the most fundamental antinomies in biology persists.
Books by Isaac Hernandez
del concepto de organismo, el que históricamente ha servido para denotar la especificidad de lo viviente, tiene un impacto no menor sobre esta disciplina y se puede resumir como la pérdida de la particularidad de su objeto, aquél que le da vida y que constituye en sus cimientos a la biología propiamente tal.
En esta investigación se analizan las bases epistémicas que dan voz a este problema junto a las consecuencias de sostener una tesis estrictamente reduccionista en biología. Esto lo hemos efectuado a través de una reconstrucción conceptual e histórica de los fundamentos filosóficos que están detrás de cada concepto que ha nutrido a la biología desde su pre-constitución como disciplina científica. Finalmente en esta investigación se describe la actualidad de la problemática y se argumenta la necesidad de re-introducir el concepto de organismo en el discurso biológico desde un prisma contemporáneo, en donde se discute la importancia de denotar al objeto viviente desde su particularidad.
Consequently, the extension of the limits of biological ontology allowed, on the one hand, to question the concept of the individual by releasing it from the reference to the organism, and on the other hand, to relativize the importance of the organism within the biological discourse. From there, philosophers and biologists question the necessity of erecting organisms as an indispensable category for thinking about life. However, we argue that, to contribute to the development of biological individuality theme, we must give voice to another discourse on individuality, which emerges from discussions on the ontology of organisms. It is towards the systemic tradition that we must turn our attention, in order to extend research on the nature of biological individuality in the light of a renewed definition of the organism. Thus, we assumes an important distinction between two non-exclusive biological tendencies about the problem of the biological individual: the Darwinian individual on one side, and the ontogenetic individual on the other.
In an ontogenetic approach, an individual, far from being the entity that undergoes the action of selection during evolutionary time, corresponds to the entity that self-determines during its individual life time. Thus, this approach is not based on a hierarchical evolutionary vision in which the organism represents a simple level of analysis between a plurality of biological individuals. On the contrary, it is based on a more physiological conception, centered on biological organization. The question of the ontology of organisms then takes the form of an inquiry into the peculiarity of this form of biological individuality which is, since Kant, characterized by natural objects made of things related into “the unity of a whole by being reciprocally cause and effect of their form”.
to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of “major evolutionary transition". A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals enter into relationships that intrinsically transform them, a transformation sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”, that is, a new level of organismality.
change in natural history that can not only disrupt the types of existing organisms, but also transform the evolutionary process in itself, which would open new ways of complexification. According to these authors, a major transition can be defined, as the result of the integration of a certain number of initially independent organisms, which manage to bring out a system capable of organizing their interactions, becoming a collective of components who has an identity oriented towards a common goal. We understand the emphasis of authors when we look closely at one of the pillars of the Darwinian theory of evolution: the principle of common descent with modification. However, in a major transition, the variation can also be driven by particular association phenomena between individuals of different origins, when they become so associated that they are able to make emerge a new level of individuality. A major evolutionary transition is thus explained as a phenomenon of evolution of complexity that takes a different path from that of classical evolution.
In this study we will therefore focus on the emergence of biological individuality. The emergence of a new biological level testifies to the
establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals while changing their constitution as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals engage in relationships that transform them intrinsically, a transformation that must be sufficient for a “whole” to become a “part” that forms another “whole”.
traditionally been used to understand embryogenesis: either form is preformed in the embryo or it is newly formed at each generation. Our aim in this article is to show that
the contrast between the preformationist and epigenetic positions persists despite he formidable theoretical and experimental advances of contemporary developmental biology. Preformationism and epigenesis have constantly refined their positions in the course of history in order to answer the conceptual challenges of their age. This process of continuous transformation has resulted in a partial convergence of the two positions. However, we shall argue that, despite the partial successes of this process of continuous convergence, one of the most fundamental antinomies in biology persists.
del concepto de organismo, el que históricamente ha servido para denotar la especificidad de lo viviente, tiene un impacto no menor sobre esta disciplina y se puede resumir como la pérdida de la particularidad de su objeto, aquél que le da vida y que constituye en sus cimientos a la biología propiamente tal.
En esta investigación se analizan las bases epistémicas que dan voz a este problema junto a las consecuencias de sostener una tesis estrictamente reduccionista en biología. Esto lo hemos efectuado a través de una reconstrucción conceptual e histórica de los fundamentos filosóficos que están detrás de cada concepto que ha nutrido a la biología desde su pre-constitución como disciplina científica. Finalmente en esta investigación se describe la actualidad de la problemática y se argumenta la necesidad de re-introducir el concepto de organismo en el discurso biológico desde un prisma contemporáneo, en donde se discute la importancia de denotar al objeto viviente desde su particularidad.
Consequently, the extension of the limits of biological ontology allowed, on the one hand, to question the concept of the individual by releasing it from the reference to the organism, and on the other hand, to relativize the importance of the organism within the biological discourse. From there, philosophers and biologists question the necessity of erecting organisms as an indispensable category for thinking about life. However, we argue that, to contribute to the development of biological individuality theme, we must give voice to another discourse on individuality, which emerges from discussions on the ontology of organisms. It is towards the systemic tradition that we must turn our attention, in order to extend research on the nature of biological individuality in the light of a renewed definition of the organism. Thus, we assumes an important distinction between two non-exclusive biological tendencies about the problem of the biological individual: the Darwinian individual on one side, and the ontogenetic individual on the other.
In an ontogenetic approach, an individual, far from being the entity that undergoes the action of selection during evolutionary time, corresponds to the entity that self-determines during its individual life time. Thus, this approach is not based on a hierarchical evolutionary vision in which the organism represents a simple level of analysis between a plurality of biological individuals. On the contrary, it is based on a more physiological conception, centered on biological organization. The question of the ontology of organisms then takes the form of an inquiry into the peculiarity of this form of biological individuality which is, since Kant, characterized by natural objects made of things related into “the unity of a whole by being reciprocally cause and effect of their form”.