Bechtel, William (2016) Enriching the Strategies for Creating Mechanistic Explanations in Biology. [Preprint]

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Abstract

To demonstrate that a proposed mechanism could explain a phenomenon, biologists must recompose the mechanism. Traditionally they have relied on mentally rehearsing the operations, often aided by a mechanism diagram. Such a strategy has reached its limits in contemporary biology. For example, through mental rehearsal alone researchers cannot determine whether a feedback mechanism will generate sustained oscillation. Accordingly, mechanistic inclined biologists are enriching their strategies, relying on computational simulation and graph-theoretical analyses of networks. The limitations of traditional approaches and the additional strategies biologists are employing are illustrated in research on glycolytic and circadian oscillations.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Bechtel, William bechtel@ucsd.edu
Keywords:	Keywords: Mechanistic explanation; decomposition; recomposition; computational simulation; network analysis
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Explanation
Depositing User:	Professor William Bechtel
Date Deposited:	08 May 2016 03:03
Last Modified:	08 May 2016 03:03
Item ID:	12077
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Explanation
Date:	2016
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12077

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