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Article Dans Une Revue Paradigmi. Rivista di critica filosofia Année : 2020

Disentangling Genetic Assimilation from the Baldwin Effect: A Philosophical Perspective

Laurent Loison

Résumé

Since the early 1950s, there has been lingering terminological and conceptual confusion in evolutionary biology regarding the definition and mechanism of the Baldwin effect (BE) and genetic assimilation (GA). This paper aims at clearing it up by proposing a distinction of the conceptions of the phenotypic effects of genetic mutations in BE and GA, relying on a classical distinction in metaphysics between two main kinds of properties: "extrinsic" and "intrinsic". I argue that in its traditional understanding, BE implies that mutations' effects on the phenotype are dispositional (i.e. intrinsic) properties, whereas GA needs them to be systemic (i.e. extrinsic) properties.
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Dates et versions

hal-04322897 , version 1 (05-12-2023)

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Laurent Loison. Disentangling Genetic Assimilation from the Baldwin Effect: A Philosophical Perspective. Paradigmi. Rivista di critica filosofia, 2020, 38 (3), pp.441-461. ⟨10.30460/99623⟩. ⟨hal-04322897⟩
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