After the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, scientists
working in molecular biology embraced reductionism—the theory that
all complex systems can be understood in terms of their components.
Reductionism, however, has been widely resisted by both nonmolecular
biologists and scientists working outside the field of biology. Many
of these antireductionists, nevertheless, embrace the notion of
physicalism—the idea that all biological processes are physical in
nature. How, Alexander Rosenberg asks, can these self-proclaimed
physicalists also be antireductionists? With clarity and wit,
Darwinian Reductionism navigates this difficult and seemingly
intractable dualism with convincing analysis and timely evidence. In
the spirit of the few distinguished biologists who accept
reductionism—E. O. Wilson, Francis Crick, Jacques Monod, James
Watson, and Richard Dawkins—Rosenberg provides a philosophically
sophisticated defense of reductionism and applies it to molecular
developmental biology and the theory of natural selection, ultimately
proving that the physicalist must also be a reductionist.
Les mer
Or, How to Stop Worrying and Love Molecular Biology
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226727318
Publisert
2018
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter