Genes and the agents of life : the individual in the fragile sciences, biology / Robert A. Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Robert A. (Robert Andrew)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biology--Philosophy.

Biology.

Genetics--Philosophy.

Genetics.

Developmental biology--Philosophy.

Developmental biology.

Evolution (Biology)--Philosophy.

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

xv, 296 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, [2004], 2005.

Summary:

What are the agents of life? Central to our conception of the biological world is the idea that it contains various kinds of individuals, including genes, organisms, and species. How we conceive of these agents of life is central to our understanding of the relationship between life and mind, the place of hierarchical thinking in the biological sciences, and pluralistic views of biological agency. Genes and the Agents of Life undertakes to rethink the place of the individual in the biological sciences, drawing parallels with the cognitive and social sciences. Genes, organisms, and species are all agents of life, but how are each of these conceptualized within genetics, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, and systematics? The book includes highly accessible discussions of genetic encoding, species and natural kinds, and pluralism above the levels of selection, drawing on work from across the biological sciences. The book is a companion to the author's Boundaries of the Mind, also available from Cambridge University Press, in which the focus is the cognitive sciences, and will appeal to a broad range of professionals and students in philosophy, biology, and the history of science.

Contents:

Part 1 Individuals, Agency, and Biology

1 Individuals and Biology 3

1 Individuals and the Living World 3

2 Life and Mind 4

3 Agents: Biological, Living, and Other 6

4 Species and Natural Kinds: The Aristotelian Shadow 9

5 Pluralism, Realism, and Science 11

6 Within the Evolutionary Hierarchy: Genes, Organisms, Groups 14

7 Biology and the Fragile Sciences 17

8 A Path Through Genes and the Agents of Life 21

2 Thinking about Biological Agents 23

1 Tools of the Trade 23

2 Three Forms of Individualism in Biology 24

3 Taxonomy and Taxonomic Practices 30

4 The Art of Hierarchical Thinking in Biology 31

5 Methodology and Metaphysics 33

6 Properties, Realization, and Determination 35

7 Smallism and Biology 38

8 The Cognitive Metaphor 41

Part 2 Species, Organisms, and Biological Natural Kinds

3 What Is an Organism? 47

1 The Familiar and Puzzling World of Organisms 47

2 Organisms and Life: The Simple View 50

3 Problems for the Simple View 51

4 Natural Kinds, Essentialism, and Scientific Realism 53

5 Natural Kinds as Homeostatic Property Clusters: Living Agents 55

6 The Tripartite View of Organisms 59

7 Life Cycles 59

8 Autonomy 62

9 Two Precursors: Herbert Spencer and Julian Huxley 65

4 Exploring the Tripartite View 70

1 Realism and Agency 70

2 A Role for the Cognitive Metaphor 74

3 The Crystallization Thesis and Nonbiological Agents 76

4 Capturing Organismal Diversity 79

5 Corporate Organisms 80

6 The Priority of Organisms and the Early History of Life 84

7 Artificial and Natural Life 91

8 The Restoration of the Organism 94

5 Specious Individuals 96

1 Species and the Linnaean Hierarchy 96

2 Realism, Pluralism, and Individuality 98

3 Individuality and Species Taxa 99

4 Pluralism and the Species Category 101

5 Between Traditional Realism, Individuality, and Pluralism: The Case of Neural Taxonomy 103

6 Homeostatic Property Clusters and the Revival of Essentialism 107

7 The Individuality Thesis Reconsidered 113

8 Pluralism Reconsidered 115

9 Realism, Essence, and Kind 117

Part 3 Genes and Organismic Development

6 Genetic Agency 121

1 Genes and Genetic Agency 121

2 The Concept of the Gene 122

3 The Selfish Gene and the Cognitive Metaphor 126

4 The Extended Phenotype and Wide Systems 128

5 Genetic Programs, Codes, and Blueprints 133

7 Conceptualizing Development 138

1 Genes, Development, and Individualism 138

2 Individualism within Developmental Genetics 141

3 A Closer Look at the Case of Hox Genes 143

4 Developmental Systems Theory: From Critique to Vision 148

5 Developmental Systems and Locational Externalism 151

6 Resources and Systems: Some Conceptual Tightening 152

7 Resource Sharing and Life's Complications 155

8 The Smallist Embrace 157

9 Extending Physiology, Niche Construction, and Inheritance 159

Part 4 Groups and Natural Selection

8 Groups as Agents of Selection 167

1 Darwin's Legacy 167

2 Organisms as Agents of Selection 170

3 Genes and Groups as Agents of Selection: A Historical Sketch 172

4 The Problem of Altruism 177

5 Altruism Beyond the Standard Darwinian View 179

6 Articulating Group Selection 182

7 The Arbitrariness and Ephemerality Problems 183

8 Trait Groups and Superorganisms 184

9 Species and Clade Selection 189

9 Arguing about Group Selection: The Myxoma Case 194

1 Group Selection in the Wild 194

2 Test Cases and Resolvability 195

3 The Case of the Myxoma Virus: A Sketch and Two Interpretations 197

4 The State of Things: Averaging and the Status of Groups 199

5 A Little More on the Virology and Epidemiology of Myxomatosis 203

6 Why Further Details Reinforce the Irresolvability Claim 207

7 Decisiveness, Viewpoints, and Agency 212

8 How Deep Does Irresolvability Reach? 215

10 Pluralism, Entwinement, and the Agents of Selection 218

1 The Pluralistic Tenor of the Times 218

2 Two Kinds of Pluralism about the Levels of Selection 219

3 A Closer Look at Model Pluralism 222

4 Representation, Translation, and Levels 225

5 Entwined Levels of Selection 231

6 Levels, Entwinement, and the Metaphysics of Science 237

7 The Lure of Smallism and the Cognitive Metaphor 239

8 Beyond Metaphor's Grasp 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-284) and index.

ISBN:

0521836468

0521544955

OCLC:

60601440

Online:

Publisher description