The Formation of Biological Individuals
Arguments for an Epistemic Pluralism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v21i42.3502Keywords:
biological individuality, organisms, epistemic pluralism, empirical question, monism, ontological question, scientific representationAbstract
Biology divides nature into a plurality of individual entities (e.g., genes, cells, viruses, organisms, species). The so-called problem of biological individuality can be defined by two central questions. An empirical question that asks how and why a set of biological entities can constitute an individual, and an ontological question that asks what a biological individual is in general. In this research I will focus on the empirical question from a pluralistic and epistemic approach. I will argue that the diversity of criteria and practices used by biology to individuate nature is not a transitory state of scientific research, and should be preserved.
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