Transcendental biology

A. J. Nocek

doi:10.5840/philtoday2020128317

Transcendental biology

A. J. Nocek

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

This essay shows how Conrad Hal Waddington is at the very center of divergent genealogies of theoretical biology: he is at once remembered for his contribution to epigenetics and complex systems biology (in its current formation) and largely forgotten for the debt that he owes to Alfred North Whitehead's philosophy of organism. The essay traces Waddington's debt to Whitehead and demonstrates the way in which this conceptual lineage challenges the transcendental conditions of biological knowledge presupposed by the reigning paradigm of complex systems biology.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1155-1180
Number of pages	26
Journal	Philosophy Today
Volume	63
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5840/philtoday2020128317
State	Published - Sep 1 2019
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Complex systems
Epigenetics
Process philosophy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Philosophy

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10.5840/philtoday2020128317

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abstract = "This essay shows how Conrad Hal Waddington is at the very center of divergent genealogies of theoretical biology: he is at once remembered for his contribution to epigenetics and complex systems biology (in its current formation) and largely forgotten for the debt that he owes to Alfred North Whitehead's philosophy of organism. The essay traces Waddington's debt to Whitehead and demonstrates the way in which this conceptual lineage challenges the transcendental conditions of biological knowledge presupposed by the reigning paradigm of complex systems biology.",

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KW - Process philosophy

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Transcendental biology

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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