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Organisms or biological individuals? Combining physiological and evolutionary individuality

Pradeu, Thomas (2016) Organisms or biological individuals? Combining physiological and evolutionary individuality. Biology and Philosophy, 31 (6). pp. 797-817.

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Abstract

The definition of biological individuality is one of the most discussed topics in philosophy of biology, but current debate has focused almost exclusively on evolution-based accounts. Moreover, several participants in this debate consider the notions of a biological individual and an organism as equivalent. In this paper, I show that the debates would be considerably enriched and clarified if philosophers took into account two elements. First, physiological fields are crucial for the understanding of biological individuality. Second, the category of biological individuals should be divided into two subcategories: physiological individuals and evolutionary individuals, which suggests that the notions of organism and biological individual should not be used interchangeably. I suggest that the combination of an evolutionary and a physiological perspective will enable biologists and philosophers to supply an account of biological individuality that will be both more comprehensive and more in accordance with scientific practices.


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Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Pradeu, Thomasthomas.pradeu@u-bordeaux.fr
Keywords: Biological individuality; Individual; Organism; Physiology; Immunology; Ecology; Microbiome; Microbiota; Identity; Unit; Part
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > Explanation
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Depositing User: Thomas Pradeu
Date Deposited: 27 Nov 2016 20:24
Last Modified: 27 Nov 2016 20:24
Item ID: 12660
Journal or Publication Title: Biology and Philosophy
Publisher: Springer
Official URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-01...
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1007/s10539-016-9551-1
Subjects: General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics
Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Developmental Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory
Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
General Issues > Causation
General Issues > Experimentation
General Issues > Explanation
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Date: November 2016
Page Range: pp. 797-817
Volume: 31
Number: 6
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12660

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