Processes of Life : Essays in the Philosophy of Biology

"John Dupre explores recent revolutionary developments in biology and considers their relevance for our understanding of human nature and human society. Epigenetics and related areas of molecular biology have eroded the exceptional status of the gene and presented the genome as fully interactive with the rest of the cell. Developmental systems theory provides a space for a vision of evolution that takes full account of the fundamental importance of developmental processes. Dupre shows the importance of microbiology for a proper understanding of the living world, and reveals how it subverts such basic biological assumptions as the organisation of biological kinds on a branching tree of life, and the simple traditional conception of the biological organism. These topics are considered in the context of a view of science as realistically grounded in the natural order, but at the same time as pluralistic and inextricably integrated within a social and normative context. The volume includes a section that recapitulates and expands some of the author's general views on science; a section addressing a range of topics in biology, including the significance of genomics, the nature of the organism and the current status of evolutionary theory; and a section exploring some implications of contemporary biology for humans, for example on the reality or unreality of human races, and the plasticity of human nature."--Publisher description This volume collects essays written by John Dupré during his time as Director of the ESRC centre for Genomics in Society, and reflects his interest in the implications of emerging ideas in biology for philosophy. Particular interests include: epigenetics and related areas of molecular biology that have eroded the exceptional status of the gene, and presented the genome as fully interactive with the rest of the cell; developmental systems theory which, especially in the light of epigenetics, provides a space for a vision of evolution that takes full account of the fundamental importance of developmental processes; and microbiology, the elephant in the room of contemporary philosophy of biology. The emphasis on the importance of microbes is perhaps the most distinctive theme of the essays, and one that is shown to subvert such basic biological assumptions as the organization of biological kinds on a branching Tree of Life, and the simple traditional conception of the biological organism. These topics are understood in the context of a view of science, partly taken from earlier work, but developed further in some of the present essays, as realistically grounded in the natural order, but at the same time pluralistic and inextricably integrated within a social and normative context. Topics to which these philosophical and scientific ideas are addressed include the nature of the organism, the limits of neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory, the significance of genomics, the biological status of human races, and the evolutionary and developmental plasticity of human nature John Dupré explores recent revolutionary developments in biology and considers their relevance for our understanding of human nature and human society. Epigenetics and related areas of molecular biology have eroded the exceptional status of the gene and presented the genome as fully interactive with the rest of the cell. Developmental systems theory provides a space for a vision of evolution that takes full account of the fundamental importance of developmental processes. Dupré shows the importance of microbiology for a proper understanding of the living world, and reveals how it subverts such basic biological assumptions as the organisation of biological kinds on a branching tree of life, and the simple traditional conception of the biological organism. These topics are considered in the context of a view of science as realistically grounded in the natural order, but at the same time as pluralistic and inextricably integrated within a social and normative context. The volume includes a section that recapitulates and expands some of the author's general views on science; a section addressing a range of topics in biology, including the significance of genomics, the nature of the organism and the current status of evolutionary theory; and a section exploring some implications of contemporary biology for humans, for example on the reality or unreality of human races, and the plasticity of human nature. [Pt.] I. Science. The miracle of monism What's the fuss about social constructivism? The inseparability of science and values [pt.] II. Biology. The constituents of life 1 : species, microbes, and genes The constituents of life 2 : organisms and systems Understanding contemporary genomics The polygenomic organism It is not possible to reduce biological explanations to explanations in chemistry and/or physics Postgenomic Darwinism [pt.] III. Microbes. Size doesn't matter : towards a more inclusive philosophy of biology / with Maureen A. O'Malley Metagenomics and biological ontology / with Maureen A. O'Malley Varieties of living things : life at the intersection of lineage and metabolism / with Maureen O'Malley Emerging sciences and new conceptions of disease : or, beyond the monogenomic differentiated cell lineage [pt.] IV. Humans. Against maladaptationism : or, what's wrong with evolutionary psychology What genes are, and why there are no 'genes for race' Causality and human nature in the social sciences. John Dupre explores recent revolutionary developments in biology and considers their relevance for our understanding of human nature and society. He reveals how the advance of genetic science is changing our view of the constituents of life, and shows how an understanding of microbiology will overturn standard assumptions about the living world.