Kesić, Srdjan (2019) Rethinking the pragmatic systems biology and systems-theoretical biology divide: toward a complexity-inspired epistemology of systems biomedicine. Medical hypotheses, 131. p. 109316.
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Abstract
This paper examines some methodological and epistemological issues underlying the ongoing “artificial” divide between pragmatic-systems biology and systems-theoretical biology. The pragmatic systems view of biology has encountered problems and constraints on its explanatory power because pragmatic systems biologists still tend to view systems as mere collections of parts, not as “emergent realities” produced by adaptive interactions between the constituting components. As such, they are incapable of characterizing the higher-level biological phenomena adequately. The attempts of systems-theoretical biologists to explain these “emergent realities” using mathematics also fail to produce satisfactory results.
Given the increasing strategic importance of systems biology, both from theoretical and research perspectives, we suggest that additional epistemological and methodological insights into the possibility of further integration between traditional experimental studies and complex modeling are required. This integration will help to improve the currently underdeveloped pragmatic-systems biology and system-theoretical biology.
The “epistemology of complexity,” I contend, acts as a glue that connects and integrates different and sometimes opposing viewpoints, perspectives, streams, and practices, thus maintaining intellectual and research coherence of systems research of life. It allows scientists to shift the focus from traditional experimental research to integrated, modeling-based holistic practices capable of providing a comprehensive knowledge of organizing principles of living systems. It also opens the possibility of the development of new practical and theoretical foundations of systems biology to build a better understanding of complex organismic functions.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Systems biology; Cybernetics; Second order cybernetics; Complexity; Complex biological systems; Epistemology of complexity; | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change |
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| Depositing User: | Dr Srdjan Kesić | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 Aug 2021 23:50 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2021 23:50 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 19410 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Medical hypotheses | ||||||
| Publisher: | Churchill Livingstone | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/... | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109316 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change |
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| Date: | October 2019 | ||||||
| Page Range: | p. 109316 | ||||||
| Volume: | 131 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/19410 |
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