Ehsani, Sepehr (2023) Generalizations for Cell Biological Explanations: Distinguishing between Principles and Laws. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Laws have figured in the development of modern biology, but there is a tacit assumption particularly in cell biology that laws are only of the 'strict' kind, which cell biology appears to lack. The cell-biology-specific non-universal laws that do exist (e.g. scaling laws in cellular biochemical networks) are quite uncommon. This paper is motivated by the premise that mechanistic explanations, the dominant kind of explanation in cell biology, and laws can both be in the foreground of explanations and that a framework should be developed to facilitate the discovery of laws specific to and operative at the individual cell level. To that end, in the domain of scientifically-relevant non-universal generalizations, which some equate with ceteris paribus laws ('cp-laws'), I propose that a cp-law might have one or more corresponding 'principles'. I argue that while a cp-law and its paired principle(s) might explain the same phenomenon, a principle is broader in scope compared to its paired cp-law but less expectable or reliable in its predictions. This is because principles appear to be more qualitative and less numerically precise compared to cp-laws, reflective of our lack of precise understanding of the systems to which the generalizations apply. The principles–laws concept makes for a more lenient approach for what could count as a lawlike generalization and can encourage the discovery of novel generalizations in areas of cell biology where no specific generalizations typically figure in explanations. Newly posited principles could augment mechanistic explanations and also lead to the discovery of corresponding cp-laws.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Biological Explanation; Biological Principles; Biology; Cell Biology; Ceteris Paribus Laws; Generalizations; Laws; Life Sciences; Mechanism; Mechanistic Explanation; Nomological Explanation; Philosophy of Biology; Philosophy of Cell Biology; Philosophy of Medicine; Philosophy of the Life Sciences; Principled Mechanism; Principled Mechanistic Explanation; Principles; Scientific Explanation; Scientific Generalizations; Scientific Laws; Theoretical Biology | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Sepehr Ehsani | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 10 Mar 2024 01:51 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 10 Mar 2024 01:51 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 23181 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Laws of Nature |
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| Date: | 4 May 2023 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23181 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Generalizations for Cell Biological Explanations: Distinguishing between Principles and Laws. (deposited 05 May 2023 13:06)
- Generalizations for Cell Biological Explanations: Distinguishing between Principles and Laws. (deposited 10 Mar 2024 01:51) [Currently Displayed]
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