Abstract
The term ‘reductionism’ is, no doubt, equivocal. Let me therefore first state what I shall address in this paper and what I shall not. Using the well-known distinction between ontological, methodological, and epistemological questions of reductionism (e.g. Ayala 1974; Hull 1981; Mayr 1982, pp.60–63), I will dismiss the methodological domain. Many of the questions of reductionism which are of interest to the working biologist qua working biologist, will therefore not be treated here. Furthermore, I will not address questions of the ontological domain: I shall stick dogmatically to ontological reductionism without arguing for it. For the sake of argument, I shall presuppose that living beings are composed of the same kind of matter that is equipped with the same kinds of elementary interactions that are known to physics and chemistry of today. Thus the questions of epistemological reductionism remain.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Bibliography
Asquith, P.D., Kyburg, H.E. (eds.): Current Research in Philosophy of Science ( Edwards, Ann Arbor, 1979 ).
Asquith, P.d., Nickles, T. (eds.): PSA 1982. Proceedings of the 1982 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association (Philosophy of Science Association, East Lansing, 1983 ).
Ayala, F.J.: “Biology as an Autonomous Science”, American Scientist 56 207–221 (1968).
Ayala, F.J.: “Introduction”, in Ayala/Dobzhansky 1974, pp.VII-XVI.
Ayala, F.J.: “Beyond Darwinism? The Challenge of Macroevolution to the Synthetic Theory of Evolution”, in Asquith/Nickles 1983, vol. 2 pp. 275–291.
Ayala, F.J., Dobzhansky, T. (eds.): Studies in the Philosophy of Biology. Reduction and Related Problems (Macmillan, London, 1974).
Block, N. (ed.): Readings in Philosophy of Psychology, vol. 1 ( Harvard UP, Cambridge, 1980 ).
Causey, R.L.: Unity of Science (Reidel, Dordrecht. 1977).
Cohen, R.S., Hooker, C.A., Michalos, A.C.. van Evra, J. (eds.): PSA 1974 (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1976).
Dupré, J.: “The Disunity of Science”, Mind 92 321–346 (1983).
Feyerabend, P.: “Explanation, Reduction, and Empiricism”, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science III 28–97 (1962).
Friedmann, K.: “Is Intertheoretic Reduction Feasible?”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 33 17–40 (1982).
Fodor, J.A.: “Special Sciences, or the Disunity of Science as a Working Hypothesis”, in Block 1980, pp.120–133;
Fodor, J.A.: originally in synthese 28 97–115 (1974).
Hempel, C.G.: Philosophy of Natural Science ( Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs. 1966 ).
Hoyningen-Huene, P.: “Probleme des Reduktionismus der Biologie”. Philosophia Naturalis, forthcoming.
Hull, D.: “Informal Aspects of Theory Reduction”, in Sober 1984, pp.462–476;
Hull, D.: originally in Cohen et al. 1976, pp.653–670.
Hull, D.: “Reduction and Genetics”, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 6 126–143 (1981).
Klee, R.L.: “Micro-Determinism and Concepts of Emergence”, Philosophy of Science 51 44–63 (1984).
Kuhn. T.S.: The Structure of Scientic Revolutions (Chicago UP, Chicago, 1962, 2nd. ed., enlarged, 1970 ).
Kuhn. T.S.: “A Function for Thought Experiments”, reprinted in Kuhn, T.S.: The Essential Tension. Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago. 1977 ), pp. 240–265.
Lorenz. K.Z.: Behind the Mirror. A Search for a Natural History of Human Knowledge, transi. by R.Taylor ( Methuen, London. 1977 ).
Lorenz. K.Z.: The Foundations of Ethology, transi. by K.Z.Lorenz and R.W.Kickert ( Springer, New York, 1981 ).
Maull, N.: “Unifying Science without Reduction”, in Sober 1984, pp.509–527;
Maull, N.: originally in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 9 143–162 (1977).
Mayr, E.: The Growth of Biological Thought. Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance (Belnap, Cambridge, 1982).
Nagel. E.: The Structure of Science. Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation ( Harcourt, New York, 1961 ).
Nickles. T. (ed.): Scientific Discovery (Reidel. Boston, 1980).
Oppenheim, P., Putnam, H.: “Unity of Science as a Working Hypothesis, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science II 3–36 (1958).
Pluhar. E.B.: “Emergence and Reduction”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 9 279–289 (1978).
Popper. K.R.: “Scientific Reduction and the Essential Incompleteness of All Science”, in Ayala/Dobzhansky 1974. pp.259–284.
Putnam, H.: “Philosophy and Our Mental Life”, in Block 1980. pp.134–143;
Putnam, H.: originally in H. Putnam. Mind. Language, and Reality. Philosophical papers vol.2 (Cambridge UP. London. 1975) pp.291–303.
Ruse, M.: “Reduction in Genetics”, in Sober 1984, pp.446–461;
Ruse, M.: originally in Cohen et al. 1976, pp.653–670.
Schaffner, K.F.: “Approaches to Reduction”, Philosophy of Science 34 137–147 (1967).
Schaffner, K.F.: “Reduction in Biology: Prospects and Problems”. in Sober 1984, pp.428–445;
Schaffner, K.F.: originally in Cohen et al. 1976, pp.613–632.
Schaffner, K.F.: “Introduction [to] Reductionism and Holism in Medicine”, The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 6 93–100 (1981).
Sober, E. (ed.): Conceptual Issues in Evolutionary Biology. An Anthology (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1984).
Wilson, E.O.: Sociobiology. The New Synthesis (Belnap, Cambridge, 1975).
Wimsatt, W.C.: “Reduction and Reductionism”, in Asquith/Kyburg 1979, pp.352–377.
Wimsatt, W.C.: “Reductionistic Research Strategies and Their Biases in the Unit of Selection Controversy”, in Sober 1984, pp.142–183;
Wimsatt, W.C.: originally in Nickles 1980, pp.213–259.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1989). Epistemological Reductionism in Biology: Intuitions, Explications, and Objections. In: Hoyningen-Huene, P., Wuketits, F.M. (eds) Reductionism and Systems Theory in the Life Sciences. Theory and Decision Library, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1003-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1003-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6941-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1003-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive