Understanding endogenously active mechanisms: A scientific and philosophical challenge

被引:20
作者
Bechtel, William [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] Univ Calif San Diego, Dept Philosophy, Ctr Chronobiol, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
[2] Univ Calif San Diego, Sci Studies Program, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
关键词
New mechanistic philosophy of science; Dynamical mechanistic explanation; Computational modeling; Circadian rhythms; Dynamical systems theory; Non-sequential organization;
D O I
10.1007/s13194-012-0046-x
中图分类号
N09 [自然科学史]; B [哲学、宗教];
学科分类号
01 ; 0101 ; 010108 ; 060207 ; 060305 ; 0712 ;
摘要
Although noting the importance of organization in mechanisms, the new mechanistic philosophers of science have followed most biologists in focusing primarily on only the simplest mode of organization in which operations are envisaged as occurring sequentially. Increasingly, though, biologists are recognizing that the mechanisms they confront are non-sequential and the operations nonlinear. To understand how such mechanisms function through time, they are turning to computational models and tools of dynamical systems theory. Recent research on circadian rhythms addressing both intracellular mechanisms and the intercellular networks in which these mechanisms are synchronized illuminates this point. This and other recent research in biology shows that the new mechanistic philosophers of science must expand their account of mechanistic explanation to incorporate computational modeling, yielding dynamical mechanistic explanations. Developing such explanations, however, is a challenge for both the scientists and the philosophers as there are serious tensions between mechanistic and dynamical approaches to science, and there are important opportunities for philosophers of science to contribute to surmounting these tensions.
引用
收藏
页码:233 / 248
页数:16
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