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Article Dans Une Revue Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology Année : 2012

Chance between holism and reductionism: Tensions in the conceptualisation of Life

Résumé

In debates between holism and reductionism in biology, from the early twentieth century to more recent re-enactments involving genetic reductionism, developmental systems theory, or systems biology, the role of chance – the presence of theories invoking chance as a strong explanatory principle – is hardly ever acknowledged. Conversely, Darwinian models of chance and selection (Dennett 1995, Kupiec 1996, Kupiec 2009) sit awkwardly with reductionist and holistic concepts, which they alternately challenge or approve of. I suggest that the juxtaposition of chance and the holism-reductionism pair (at multiple levels, ontological and methodological, pertaining to the vision of scientific practice as well as to the foundations of a vision of Nature, implicit or explicit) allows the theorist to shed some new light on these perennial tensions in the conceptualisation of Life.
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Dates et versions

hal-01233183 , version 1 (24-11-2015)

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Charles T. Wolfe. Chance between holism and reductionism: Tensions in the conceptualisation of Life. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 2012, Chance at the heart of the cell, 110 (1), pp.113-120. ⟨10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2012.05.005⟩. ⟨hal-01233183⟩
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