Promises and Limits of Reductionism in the Biomedical Sciences

ISBN-13: 9780471498506 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 382 str.

Marc H. V. Van Regenmortel; David L. Hull; Stanley M. Roberts

Opis

Reductionism as a scientific methodology has been extraordinarily successful in biology. However, recent developments in molecular biology have shown that reductionism is seriously inadequate in dealing with the mind-boggling complexity of integrated biological systems.
This title presents an appropriate balance between science and philosophy and covers traditional philosophical treatments of reductionism as well as the benefits and shortcomings of reductionism in particular areas of science.
Discussing the issue of reductionism in the practice of medicine it takes into account the holistic and integrative aspects that require the context of the patient in his biological and psychological entirety.
The emerging picture is that what first seems like hopeless disagreements turn out to be differences in emphasis. Although genes play an important role in biology, the focus on genetics and genomics has often been misleading. The consensus view leads to pluralism: both reductionst methods and a more integrative approach to biological complexity are required, depending on the questions that are asked.
* An even balance of contributions from scientists and philosophers of science - representing a unique interchange between both communities interested in reductionism

Recenzje

"...will stimulate anyone with an interest in philosophy or science to reflect on reductionism...fruitful dialogues offer a rich trove of insights..." (The Quarterly Review of Biology, Sept 2003)

Spis treści

Preface

Contributors

About the Editors

Introduction (D.L. Hull and M.H.V. Van Regenmortel)

Emergent Properties of Biological Molecules and Cells (R. P. J. Williams)

From Nineteenth Century Ideas on Reduction in Physiology to Non–reductive Explanations in Twentieth Century Biochemistry (C. Debru)

Pitfalls of Reductionism in Immunology (M. H. V. Van Regenmortel)

Reductionism in Medicine: Social Aspects of Health (E.A. Lloyd)

′Who′s Afraid of Reductionism?′ ′I am!′ (S. Shostak)

Round Table Discussion 1 (Chair: A. Rosenberg)

Reductionism in a Historical Science (A. Rosenberg)

Varieties of Reductionism: Derivation and Gene Selection (D. L. Hull)

The Gene: Between Holism and Reductionism (M. Morange)

Genes versus Molecules: How to, and How Not To, Be a Reductionist (S. Sarak)

Limits on Reproduction: A Reductionist Research Strategy in Evolutionary Biology (J. Griesemer)

Evolutionary Psychology: A Case Study in the Poverty of Genetic Determinism (J. Dupre)

Round Table Discussion 2 (Chair: M.H.V. Van Regenmortel)

The Ethical Imperative of Holism in Medicine (A. Tauber)

Levels of Explanation in Human Behaviour: the Poverty of Evolutionary Psychology (S. P. R. Rose)

Reductionism and Social Policy (D. Nelkin)

Reductionism, Complexity and Molecular Medicine: Genetic Chips and the ′Globalization′ of the Genome (K. Schaffner)

Round Table Discussion 3 (Chair: K.F. Schaffner)

Bibliography

Index

O autorze

David L. Hull has been teaching philosophy of biology for almost forty years. He received his PhD from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University and has taught at the University of Wisconisn–Milwuaukee and Northwestern University. He has published a dozen books and anthologies and over a hundred papers. He is past president of the Philosophy of Science Association, The Society for Systematic Zoology and the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Marc Van Regenmortel was for 20 years Director of the Immunochemistry Laboratory at the CNRS Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, in Strasbourg, France. Educated in Brussels, Belgium, he received his PhD degree (1961) in Virology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa and held professorship appointments at several Universities in South Africa and France. The author or editor of 14 books in virology and immunochemistry, he has published over 350 scientific papers and reviews. He is Editor–in–Chief of the Journal of Molecular Recognition and of Archives of Virology, an Executive Editor of Analytical Biochemistry and serves on the editorial boards of seven other journals. He was for nine years (1990–1999) Secretary General of the International Union of Microbiological Societies and for three years (1987–1990) Chairman of its Virology Division. He is since 1996 the President of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.

Blurb

Reductionism as a scientific methodology has been extraordinarily successful in biology. However, recent developments in molecular biology have shown that reductionism is seriously inadequate in dealing with the mind–boggling complexity of integrated biological systems. Biomolecules are not only very complicated molecular machines but are the results of the whole evolutionary history of life. Earlier enthusiasm for the reduction of biology to chemistry and physics has given place to the appreciation of biology as an essentially historical discipline that requires functional and not only structural explanations. To explain and treat human disease, it is nearly always necessary to move beyond genetic reductionism and take into account holistic and integrative aspects that require the context of the patient in his or her biological and psychological entirety.

Promises and Limits of Reductionism in the Biomedical Sciences highlights:
∗ The traditional philosophical treatments of reductionism

∗ The benefits and shortcomings of reductionism in particular areas of science

∗ The issue of reductionism in the practice of medicine

∗ The deficiencies of evolutionary psychology and the inadequacy of reductive explanations of human behaviour in terms of single factors
The picture that emerges in this anthology is that what might at first seem like hopeless disagreement turns out to be rather differences in emphasis. Although genes play an important role in biology, the focus on genetics and genomics has often been misleading. The consensus view leads to pluralism: both reductionist methods and a more integrative approach to biological complexity are required, depending on the questions that are asked.

This book has an excellent balance between contributions from scientists and philosophers of science. It will appeal to philosophers and scientists alike and represents a unique interchange between individuals from both communities interested in reductionism.