Balorda, Vito (2026) Ontological Deflationism about Biological Cascades. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Recent challenges to the new mechanistic framework argue that biological explanation involves causal structures, such as cascades, with different features, analogies, and investigative strategies, without explicitly claiming that they are ontologically distinct from mechanisms. I argue that cascades (e.g., blood coagulation) satisfy the same ontological commitments as mechanisms: they consist of organized entities engaging in activities and are embedded within hierarchical mechanistic architectures. Their distinctiveness is instead pragmatic: the cascade perspective foregrounds certain features, such as trigger sensitivity, amplification, and stable progression, for purposes of representation, discovery, and control without introducing a distinct kind of causal structure.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Balorda, Vito vito.balorda@uniri.hr 0000-0002-7928-7088
Keywords:	mechanism; cascade; mechanistic ontology; cascade perspective; explanatory pluralism
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation
Depositing User:	Dr. Vito Balorda
Date Deposited:	31 May 2026 12:48
Last Modified:	31 May 2026 12:48
Item ID:	29835
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Causation General Issues > Explanation
Date:	30 May 2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29835

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