Keyword: biological autonomy

Published open access in Philosophy of Science. Abstract: In this paper I offer a model-theoretic interpretation of Autonomy Theory as defended by Moreno, Mossio, Montévil, and Bich. I address accusations that Autonomy Theory is excessively liberal, such as those made by Garson (2017), arguing that these misunderstand the role of strategic abstractions and generalizations in […]

Published as part of The Routledge Handbook of Causality and Causal Methods and available open access here. Abstract: In order to carry out many scientific practices, say, doing measurements, building explanations, planning interventions, it is necessary to identify which causal systems will be measured, explained or intervened upon. Accordingly, it is important in biological research […]

Author: Leonardo Bich Date of publication: 04 December 2024 Publisher: Cambridge University Press The PDF version of this book is available here. Summary Living systems are complex systems made of components that tend to degrade, but nonetheless they maintain themselves far from equilibrium. This requires living systems to extract energy and materials from the environment […]

Published open-access in Ratio. Abstract: This paper critically revises the organisational account of teleology, which argues that living systems are first and foremost oriented towards a goal: maintaining their own conditions of existence. It points out some limitations of this account, mainly in the capability to account for the richness and complexity of biological systems […]

New issue of biological theory with a thematic section on biological agency, including paper by Louis Virenque & Matteo Mossio on agency in biological autonomy, Andrew Pickering on agency in Science Studies, Samir Okasha on agency and evolution, and a commentary essay by Lenny Moss. All essays available in open-access here.

Published open-access in Biology and Philosophy Abstract: A recent idea of “ecosystem health” was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s to draws attention to the fact that ecosystems can become ill because of a reduction of properties such as primary productivity, functions and diversity of interactions among system components. Starting from the 1990s, this idea […]

Workshop on biological autonomy and the question of organismal agency at the Université Paris I. More information and the link to follow remotely available on the conference website. Program Lundi 18 mars 2024 9h00-9h15 : Ouverture du workshop/opening session : Florian Moullard (Bordeaux-Montaigne, SPH; Paris 1, IHPST) et Louis Virenque (CNRS, IHPST, Paris I),The Problem for Defining Agency. 9h15-10h45 : Anna Ciaunica (Université […]

Since emerging onto the stage as ‘a theory of cortical responses’ in 2005[1], Karl Friston’s free energy principle has undergone numerous costume changes. In its most modest dress, it appears as nothing more than a tautological truism[2]: in its most eye-catching ensemble it is “an existential dyad from which everything of interest about life and […]

Published by Leo Bich and Bill Bechtel in a fascinating volume edited by João L. Cordovil, Gil Santos, and Davide Vecchi, this paper offers new insights into the theoretical interrelations between biological mechanisms and biological organization. Like the rest of the book, it is open access and available here. Abstract: According to new mechanists, mechanisms […]

The event will take place at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition in Klosterneuburg (Austria) on September 9th-12th. The summer school is organized by Leonardo Bich, Lucie Laplane and Matteo Mossio and is is mainly intended for young scholars, including PhD students and early post-doctoral researchers, who are engaged in the study of […]