Biology & Philosophy

, 33:12 | Cite as

Making microbes matter: essay review of Maureen A. O’Malley’s Philosophy of Microbiology

  • Gregory J. Morgan
  • James Romph
  • Joshua L. Ross
  • Elizabeth Steward
  • Claire Szipszky
Review Essay
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:
  • 66 Downloads

Abstract

In a pioneering book, Philosophy of Microbiology, Maureen O’Malley argues for the philosophical importance of microbes through an examination of their impact on ecosystems, evolution, biological classification, collaborative behavior, and multicellular organisms. She identifies many understudied conceptual issues in the study of microbes. If philosophers follow her lead, the philosophy of biology will be expanded and enriched.

Keywords

Microbial classification Microbial species Microbiome Philosophy of molecular biology Biological individuality 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access

Notes

Acknowledgements

This collaborative review was written in the Fall of 2017 as a work product of Stevens Institute of Technology class HPL 367 Philosophy of Biology, which aims to bring undergraduates into philosophical research. We thank Maureen O’Malley for comments on an early draft.

References

  1. Ankeny RA, Leonelli S (2011) What’s so special about model organisms? Stud Hist Philos Sci A 42(2):313–323CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Balázsi G, van Oudenaarden A, Collins JJ (2011) Cellular decision making and biological noise: from microbes to mammals. Cell 144(6):910–925CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Belkaid Y, Hand TW (2014) Role of the microbiota in immunity and inflammation. Cell 157(1):121–141CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Ben Jacob E, Becker I, Shapira Y, Levine H (2004) Bacterial linguistic communication and social intelligence. Trends Microbiol 12(8):366–372CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Booth A, Mariscal C, Doolittle WF (2016) The modern synthesis in the light of microbial genomics. Annu Rev Microbiol 70:279–297CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Boyd R (2010) Homeostasis, higher taxa, and monophyly. Philos Sci 77(5):686–701CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Clarke E (2016) Levels of selection in biofilms: multispecies biofilms are not evolutionary individuals. Biol Philos 31(2):191–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Copeland HF (1938) The kingdoms of organisms. Q Rev Biol 13(4):383–420CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Dawkins R (2016) The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, OxfordGoogle Scholar
  10. Dretske F (1986) Misrepresentation. In: Bogdan RJ (ed) Belief: form, content, and function. Clarendon, Oxford, pp 17–36Google Scholar
  11. Dupré J (1981) Natural kinds and biological taxa. Philos Rev 90(1):66–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Dupré J, O’Malley MA (2007) Metagenomics and biological ontology. Stud Hist Philos Sci C: Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci 38(4):834–846Google Scholar
  13. Godfrey-Smith P (2013) Darwinian Individuals. In: Bouchard F, Huneman P (eds) From groups to individuals: perspectives on biological associations and emerging individuals. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 17–36Google Scholar
  14. Griffiths PE, Gray RD (1994) Developmental systems and evolutionary explanation. J Philos 91(6):277–304CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Hanada S (2016) Anoxygenic photosynthesis—A photochemical reaction that does not contribute to oxygen reproduction. Microb Environ 31(1):1–3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Johnston DT, Wolfe-Simon F, Pearson A, Knoll AH (2009) Anoxygenic photosynthesis modulated Proterozoic oxygen and sustained Earth’s middle age. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106(40):16925–16929CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Kodaman N, Pazos A, Schneider BG, Piazuelo MB, Mera R, Sobota RS, Harder RH (2014) Human and Helicobacter pylori coevolution shapes the risk of gastric disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci 111(4):1455–1460CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Love AC, Travisano M (2013) Microbes modeling ontogeny. Biol Philos 28(2):161–188CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Mayer EA, Knight R, Mazmanian SK, Cryan JF, Tillisch K (2014) Gut microbes and the brain: paradigm shift in neuroscience. J Neurosci 34(46):15490–15496CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. McInerney JO, Pisani D, Bapteste E, O’Connell MJ (2011) The public goods hypothesis for the evolution of life on Earth. Biol Direct 6(1):41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Millikan RG (1989) Biosemantics. J Philos 86(6):281–297CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Morgan GJ (2016) What is a virus species? Radical pluralism in viral taxonomy. Stud Hist Philos Sci C: Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci 59:64–70Google Scholar
  23. Morgan GJ, Pitts WB (2008) Evolution without species: the case of mosaic bacteriophages. Br J Philos Sci 59(4):745–765CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. O’Malley MA (2014) Philosophy of microbiology. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. O’Malley MA (2016) Reproduction expanded: multigenerational and multilineal units of evolution. Philos Sci 83(5):835–847CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. O’Malley MA, Travisano M, Velicer GJ, Bolker JA (2015) How do microbial populations and communities function as model systems? Q Rev Biol 90(3):269–293CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Queller DC, Strassmann JE (2009) Beyond society: the evolution of organismality. Philos Trans R Soc B: Biol Sci 364(1533):3143–3155CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Turner D (2011) Paleontology: a philosophical introduction. Cambridge University Press, CambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Weisberg M (2007) Three kinds of idealization. J Philos 104(12):639–659CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Williams TA, Foster PG, Cox CJ, Embley TM (2013) An archaeal origin of eukaryotes supports only two primary domains of life. Nature 504(7479):231CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  • Gregory J. Morgan
    • 1
  • James Romph
    • 1
  • Joshua L. Ross
    • 1
  • Elizabeth Steward
    • 1
  • Claire Szipszky
    • 1
  1. 1.Stevens Institute of TechnologyHobokenUSA

Personalised recommendations