Levels of Organization in the Biological Sciences (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology)

Scientific philosophers examine the nature and significance of levels of organization, a core structural principle in the biological sciences. This volume examines the idea of levels of organization as a distinct object of investigation, considering its merits as a core organizational principle for the scientific image of the natural world. It approaches levels of organization--roughly, the idea that the natural world is segregated into part-whole relationships of increasing spatiotemporal scale and complexity--in terms of its roles in scientific reasoning as a dynamic, open-ended idea capable of performing multiple overlapping functions in distinct empirical settings. The contributors--scientific philosophers with longstanding ties to the biological sciences--discuss topics including the philosophical and scientific contexts for an inquiry into levels; whether the concept can actually deliver on its organizational promises; the role of levels in the development and evolution of complex systems; conditional independence and downward causation; and the extension of the concept into the sociocultural realm. Taken together, the contributions embrace the diverse usages of the term as aspects of the big picture of levels of organization. Contributors Jan Baedke, Robert W. Batterman, Daniel S. Brooks, James DiFrisco, Markus I. Eronen, Carl Gillett, Sara Green, James Griesemer, Alan C. Love, Angela Potochnik, Thomas Reydon, Ilya Tëmkin, Jon Umerez, William C. Wimsatt, James Woodward Contents Series Foreword Preface Introduction: Levels of Organization: The Architecture of the Scientific Image I.1 Introduction I.2 The Levels Problem: A Curious Research Profile I.3 The Challenges of Levels I.4 Looking Forward: A Unified Front on Downward Causation, Dynamical Autonomy, and Compositionality I.5 Chapter Summaries Notes References 1. Levels, Robustness, Emergence, and Heterogeneous Dynamics: Finding Partial Organization in Causal Thickets Overview 1.1 History and Orientation 1.2 Levels 1.3 Levels and Strength of Interaction 1.4 Levels and Robustness 1.5 The Evolution of Levels 1.6 One Type of Emergence, or Two? 1.7 Levels as Explanatory Attractors: The Level Relativity of Explanations 1.8 Level Leakage 1.9 Other Accounts of Levels 1.10 Perspectives 1.11 Prologue as Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes References 2. Levels of Organization as Tool and Doctrine in Biology Overview 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Fragmentary Character of the Levels Concept 2.3 The Doctrinal Character of the Levels Concept 2.4 Understanding the Contributions of ‘Levels’ 2.5 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 3. Our World Isn’t Organized into Levels Overview 3.1 In Pursuit of a More Precise Levels Concept 3.2 Heuristic Use of the Levels Concept 3.3 What’s to Lose with Levels? Acknowledgments References 4. Levels, Nests, and Branches: Compositional Organization and Downward Causation in Biology Overview 4.1 Introduction: Levels and Compositional Hierarchies 4.2 Branching Hierarchies 4.3 Scale-Based Levels and Heuristics 4.4 Levels and Downward Causation 4.5 Conclusions Acknowledgments Notes References 5. Levels, Perspectives, and Thickets: Toward an Ontology of Complex Scaffolded Living Systems Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Simon’s Argument for Hierarchical Levels of Organization 5.3 Wimsatt’s Three-Tiered Ontology of Complex Systems 5.4 Pruning Wimsatt’s Causal Thickets: A Scaffolding Perspective 5.5 Dynamic System/Environment Boundaries 5.6 A Developmental Scaffolding Reaction Norms Perspective 5.7 Conclusion: Toward a Theory of Developmental Transitions Acknowledgments Notes References 6. Integrating Composition and Process in Levels of Developmental Evolution Overview 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Theoretical Roles of Levels of Organization 6.3 Compositional Levels and Structure–Function Dissociation 6.4 Decomposition under a Process, Constitution, and Levels 6.5 Levels of Developmental Evolution 6.6 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 7. Manipulating Levels of Organization Overview 7.1 Levels of Organization: Scrutiny and Skepticism 7.2 Thinking about Manipulation 7.3 Experimental Practices in Developmental Biology: Manipulating “Levels” 7.4 Interpretation: From Biological Practice to Scientific Metaphysics 7.5 Comparison: Situating Manipulation-Based Levels among Alternatives 7.6 Concluding Remarks Acknowledgments Notes References 8. The Origin of New Levels of Organization Overview 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The Construction of Levels 8.3 Organicism and Genetic Hierarchies 8.4 Changes in Compositional Organization 8.5 Changes in Temporal Organization 8.6 The Level of Multicellularity 8.7 Toward a Theory of Dynamic Hierarchies Acknowledgments Notes References 9. Downward Causation and Levels Overview 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Levels 9.3 Interventionism and Downward Causation 9.4 Downward Causation Exemplified 9.5 The Hodgkin-Huxley Model as an Example of Downward Causation 9.6 Downward Causation and Distinctness of the Causal Relata 9.7 Causal Cycles 9.8 Conditional Independence 9.9 Levels and Conditional Independence 9.10 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 10. Cancer beyond Genetics: On the Practical Implications of Downward Causation Overview 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Background for the Debate 10.3 Postgenomic Puzzles and Recombination Experiments 10.4 Moving Up Levels: The Tumor Microenvironment 10.5 Downward Causation 10.6 Potential Objections and Replies 10.7 Toward a Multiscale Perspective on Cancer? 10.8 Summary and Concluding Remarks Acknowledgments Notes References 11. Multiscale Modeling in Inactive and Active Materials Overview 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Inactive Materials 11.3 Active Materials 11.4 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 12. Using Compositional Explanations to Understand Compositional Levels: An Integrative Account Overview 12.1 Clarifying the Project and Some Assumptions 12.2 Compositional Models/Explanations, Their Species, and Integration 12.3 The Activity Closure of Parts and Wholes in Compositional Models/Explanations 12.4 The Integrative Account of Compositional Levels 12.5 Same, Higher, and Lower Level under the Integrative Account: Rebutting the Kitcher–Schaffner Objection 12.6 Some Reasons Why Scientists Talk about “Levels” 12.7 The New Philosophical Skepticism about Levels: Why Scale Fails as a Replacement for Level in Scientific Practice 12.8 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 13. Functional Kinds and the Metaphysics of Functional Levels: In What Sense Are Functionally Defined Kinds and Levels Nonarbitrary? Overview 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Kinds and Levels as Intertwined Problems 13.3 Functional Kinds and Functional Levels in Biology 13.4 The Grounded Functionality Account of Natural Kinds 13.5 The GFA in Practice: Genes and Genomes in Different Research Contexts 13.6 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 14. Control Hierarchies: Pattee’s Approach to Function and Control as Time-Dependent Constraints Overview 14.1 Introduction: Some Motivations 14.2 Levels, Composition, and Organization 14.3 Pattee and the Wider Context of the Debate 14.4 Pattee’s Early Introduction of Control and Constraint 14.5 Interlude: Basics from Mechanics 14.6 Pattee’s Hierarchical Approach 14.7 Articulation of Concepts of Hierarchy 14.8 Hierarchy, Interlevel Relation, and Control 14.9 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes References 15. Phenomenological Levels in Biological and Cultural Evolution Overview 15.1 Introduction 15.2 The Architecture of Biological Complexity 15.3 The Human Dimension 15.4 The Sociocultural/Cognitive Hierarchy 15.5 Conclusion Acknowledgments References Contributors Index "This book addresses basic and advanced questions surrounding the idea of levels or organization in the biological sciences"-- Provided by publisher "This book addresses basic and advanced questions surrounding the idea of levels or organization in the biological sciences"-- Résumé de l'éditeur