Biological individuality : the identity and persistence of living entities / Jack Wilson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wilson, Jack, 1968- author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in philosophy and biology.

Cambridge studies in philosophy and biology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biology--Philosophy.

Biology.

Individuality.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 137 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

What makes a biological entity an individual? Jack Wilson shows that past philosophers have failed to explicate the conditions an entity must satisfy to be a living individual. He explores the reason for this failure and explains why we should limit ourselves to examples involving real organisms rather than thought experiments. This book explores and resolves paradoxes that arise when one applies past notions of individuality to biological examples beyond the conventional range and presents an analysis of identity and persistence. The book's main purpose is to bring together two lines of research, theoretical biology and metaphysics, which have dealt with the same subject in isolation from one another. Wilson explains an alternative theory about biological individuality which solves problems which cannot be addressed by either field alone. He presents a more fine-grained vocabulary of individuation based on diverse kinds of living things, allowing him to clarify previously muddled disputes about individuality in biology.

Contents:

1. Beyond Horses and Oak Trees: A New Theory of Individuation for Living Entities

2. The Biological and Philosophical Roots of Individuality

3. Individuality and Equivocation.

4. The Necessity of Biological Origin and Substantial Kinds

5. Generation and Corruption

6. Personal Identity Naturalized: Our Bodies, Our Selves

App. Identity and Sortals: Why Relative Identity Is.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-11521-3

1-280-77612-9

9786613686510

1-139-13883-9

1-139-14129-5

1-139-14040-X

1-139-13727-1

1-139-14461-8

1-139-13714-X

OCLC:

782876850