Hueck, Christoph (2024) Empirical Access to Life’s Teleological Forces via an Active and Co-Constitutive Relation between Subject and Object. [Preprint]
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Abstract
This article proposes an approach to understanding life that overcomes reductionist and dualist approaches. Based on Immanuel Kant’s analysis of the cognitive prerequisites of knowing an organism, I refer to an idea of Gertrudis Van de Vijver and colleagues who described a co-constitutive relationship between the cognitive activities of the observer and the living features of the organism. Using the example of a developmental series, I show that within this active and relational process, the self-generating power and teleology of the organism manifest themselves on the mental level of the observer. I posit that the Kantian mode of objectification, which refers to the sensually perceptible appearance of an organism, can be supplemented by an active mode of relational or “communicative” objectification that encompasses the life of the organism and the mind of the observer. By considering the mental processes of the observer which occur during the observation of biological phenomena, this analysis introduces a phenomenological first-person perspective on the study of life “from within”, which enables an empirical investigation of the vital properties of an organism.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Immanuel Kant; Teleology; Autopoiesis; Organic development; Objectification; First-person perspective; Second-order systems theory | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Reductionism/Holism |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Christoph J. Hueck | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 05 May 2024 08:46 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 05 May 2024 08:46 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 23366 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology General Issues > Explanation General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Reductionism/Holism |
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| Date: | 3 May 2024 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23366 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Empirical Access to Life’s Teleological Forces via an Active and Co-Constitutive Relation between Subject and Object. (deposited 23 Apr 2024 06:33)
- Empirical Access to Life’s Teleological Forces via an Active and Co-Constitutive Relation between Subject and Object. (deposited 05 May 2024 08:46) [Currently Displayed]
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