Life and Process

Towards a New Biophilosophy
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-11-034326-7
Verlag: De Gruyter

Buch, Englisch, Band 26, 322 Seiten, HC runder Rücken kaschiert, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 236 mm, Gewicht: 656 g

Reihe: ISSN

Alfred North Whitehead is arguably the most original 20th-century philosopher of nature and metaphysics. In recent decades a number of physicists have produced ground-breaking new theories in fundamental physics influenced by his process philosophy. In contrast, few biologists are even aware that Whitehead’s radical rethinking of the Cartesian assumptions implicit in 19th-century sciences might be relevant to their enterprise. This book seeks to fill this gap by exploring how Whitehead’s process ontology might provide a new philosophical foundation for the biosciences of the 21st century. The central premise shared by all of the volume’s authors is the idea that all living processes are irreducible processes. Each chapter focuses on assumptions implicit in some of the core concepts of biology – such as organism, evolution, information, and teleology – that play crucial explanatory roles in the biosciences, but as metaphysical concepts fall outside its purview. The authors each identify important shortcomings implicit in contemporary biological paradigms and show how an approach grounded in a process-oriented metaphysics can avoid them.

Zielgruppe

Academics (Philosophy, Natural Sciences), Libraries, Institutes / Philosophen und Naturwissenschaftler, Bibliotheken, Institute

Autoren/Hrsg.

Koutroufinis, Spyridon A.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: 20./21. Jahrhundert
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Naturphilosophie, Philosophie und Evolution

Über Autor(innen)

Spyridon Athanasios Koutroufinis, Technical University of Berlin, Germany/Rafina, Greece.

Spyridon Athanasios Koutroufinis, Technical University of Berlin, Germany/Rafina, Greece.