PhilSci Archive

The Central Dogma as a Thesis of Causal Specificity

Weber, Marcel (2006) The Central Dogma as a Thesis of Causal Specificity. Studies in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 28. pp. 595-610.

[img]
Preview
Text
Central Dogma.pdf

Download (173kB) | Preview

Abstract

I present a reconstruction of F.H.C. Crick’s two 1957 hypotheses ‘Sequence Hypothesis’ and ‘Central Dogma’ in terms of a contemporary philosophical theory of causation. Analyzing in particular the experimental evidence that Crick cited, I argue that these hypotheses can be understood as claims about the actual difference-making cause in protein synthesis. As these hypotheses are only true if restricted to certain nucleicacids in certain organisms, I then examine the concept of causal specificity and its potential
to counter claims about causal parity of DNA and other cellular components. I first show that causal specificity is a special kind of invariance under interventions, namely
invariance of generalizations that range over finite sets of discrete variables. Then, I show that this notion allows the articulation of a middle ground in the debate over causal parity.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Weber, Marcelmarcel.weber@unige.ch
Keywords: Central Dogma of Molecular Biology, causation, causal specificity, causal parity, information
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
General Issues > Causation
Depositing User: Prof. Marcel Weber
Date Deposited: 12 Jan 2023 17:50
Last Modified: 12 Jan 2023 17:50
Item ID: 21653
Journal or Publication Title: Studies in History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
General Issues > Causation
Date: 2006
Page Range: pp. 595-610
Volume: 28
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21653

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item