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Biological Autonomy: A Philosophical and Theoretical Enquiry
Since Darwin, Biology has been framed on the idea of evolution by natural selection, which has profoundly influenced the scientific and philosophical comprehension of biological phenomena and of our place in Nature. This book argues that contemporary biology should progress towards and revolve around an even more fundamental idea, that of autonomy. Biological autonomy describes living organisms as organised systems, which are able to self-produce and self-maintain as integrated entities, to establish their own goals and norms, and to promote the conditions of their existence through their interactions with the environment.
Topics covered in this book include organisation and biological emergence, organisms, agency, levels of autonomy, cognition, and a look at the historical dimension of autonomy. The current development of scientific investigations on autonomous organisation calls for a theoretical and philosophical analysis. This can contribute to the elaboration of an original understanding of life - including human life - on Earth, opening new perspectives and enabling fecund interactions with other existing theories and approaches. This book takes up the challenge.
Topics covered in this book include organisation and biological emergence, organisms, agency, levels of autonomy, cognition, and a look at the historical dimension of autonomy. The current development of scientific investigations on autonomous organisation calls for a theoretical and philosophical analysis. This can contribute to the elaboration of an original understanding of life - including human life - on Earth, opening new perspectives and enabling fecund interactions with other existing theories and approaches. This book takes up the challenge.
500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2015
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September 29, 2022a nice condensation of various currents in the 'self-organisation' school of biological thought, and probably the most up-to-date, nuanced and detailed articulation of this view out there.
the book argues that the capacity for self-constraint and self-maintenance is an organisational structure unique to living things. It's a special 'causal regime' the authors call 'closure'. some interesting details here: causal closure requires that the system actually produces its own constraints, and does not simply contribute to an external process that constrains it. A river may, over time, dig a channel deeper and deeper into the riverbed that contributes to its own longevity -- this isn't the same as the way an organism actually consumes and metabolises external matter and converts it into its own constituent parts. This helps distinguish organic self-maintenance from other self-organising processes in nature, 'dissipative structures', flames, crystals, and so on
There are different levels of self-organisational complexity, with higher regulatory levels affecting lower ones. This explains what distinguishes the autonomy and unity of multicellular metazoan life from colony lifeforms, algae etc. This lineage developed higher level regulatory signalling networks that integrate increasingly complex signalling loops, enabling cell and tissue differentiation/specialisation. most importantly, sequestration of reproductive cells leads to genetic homogeneity among somatic cells, effectively sheltering them from internal evolutionary pressures and competition among themselves, and ensuring that it is the organism as a whole that is subject to selection.
the book argues that the capacity for self-constraint and self-maintenance is an organisational structure unique to living things. It's a special 'causal regime' the authors call 'closure'. some interesting details here: causal closure requires that the system actually produces its own constraints, and does not simply contribute to an external process that constrains it. A river may, over time, dig a channel deeper and deeper into the riverbed that contributes to its own longevity -- this isn't the same as the way an organism actually consumes and metabolises external matter and converts it into its own constituent parts. This helps distinguish organic self-maintenance from other self-organising processes in nature, 'dissipative structures', flames, crystals, and so on
There are different levels of self-organisational complexity, with higher regulatory levels affecting lower ones. This explains what distinguishes the autonomy and unity of multicellular metazoan life from colony lifeforms, algae etc. This lineage developed higher level regulatory signalling networks that integrate increasingly complex signalling loops, enabling cell and tissue differentiation/specialisation. most importantly, sequestration of reproductive cells leads to genetic homogeneity among somatic cells, effectively sheltering them from internal evolutionary pressures and competition among themselves, and ensuring that it is the organism as a whole that is subject to selection.
May 5, 2021
It’s a very stimulating book for philosophy of biology. It goes thoroughly across the concepts of autonomy, emergence, agency, and cognition. My favorite part is at the beginning, though some of the arguments could be developed in more detail and going back several times to the same example (e.g. circulatory system) to let us see more clearly conceptual distinctions and their role in explanation.
May 26, 2022
An adventure of a read. Brilliant. Could not be more stoked about this one. Read if you are hungry for that fresh theoretical/philosophical vision that embraces (and further explores) the living world’s capacity to do crazy shit (fascinating, bewildering, etc crazy shit). I really want every undergrad biology student to take a stab at this one. Could do our scientific world some good.
January 1, 2017
An important book that deserves very careful attention. Changed my research focus. The ideas here are well presented and clear. A fantastic read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews