« Organisation as a Theoretical Principle for the Life Sciences »
Organisers:
Matteo Mossio – IHPST, University of Paris 1 & CNRS, France
Andrea Gambarotto – Institut Supérieur de Philosophie, Université Catholique de Louvain, BelgiumDate and place: 27-29 September 2017, salle de conferences, 2nd floor, IHPST, Paris, France
Rationale
In recent years an intense debate has been raised in biology and philosophy of biology to address the question: “does evolutionary theory need a rethink?” The debate, both scientific and philosophical, is changing our current views on evolution and life, by promoting a transition to more “organicist” views of vital phenomena.
Stimulated by the debate within the theory of evolution, the return of organicism increasingly pervades philosophy of biology and theoretical biology. Also, organicist approaches are now rapidly expanding to apply to many fields of biological research, such as systems biology, developmental biology, ecology, origins of life and cancer research.
Biological organicism has an illustrious history that dates back – to mention some illustrious authors – to Aristotle, Leibniz, Kant, Cuvier and Bernard. In early twentieth century, organicism was further elaborated by the “Theoretical Biology Club”, that included among its members Woodger, Needham, Waddington and Bertanlaffy. Since the, organicism has remained an important perspective in contemporary biology, although it has been somehow neglected with the establishment of the modern evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s and the flourishing of molecular biology in the 1960s.
During the last decades, the idea that biological systems (including cells, multicellular organisms, ecosystems, etc.) can be completely explained by appealing to the properties of their component parts and their interactions has been the basis for most of the life sciences. In contrast, organicism emphasises that biological systems are “more than the sum of their parts,” in the sense that the properties of the parts and their interactions in a biological system are themselves explained by the whole organisation to which they belong.
As a result, a circular relation of dependence is established between the parts and the whole: the properties the organisation depend on the properties of the parts that, at the same time, depend on the properties of the whole. Accordingly, biological organisation is not just the result of the interaction between the parts, but a theoretical principle that must be presupposed, and that makes biological explanations possible. From a mere explanandum of biological science, it becomes today a fundamental explanans.
The goal of the workshop is to assess the prospects of the current transition towards organicist perspectives grounded on the principle of organisation. The workshop aims in particular at moving toward on a precise characterisation of the principle, opening the way to a possible formalisation. The workshop will be inter-disciplinary, and will gather together philosophers and scientists coming from all the above-mentioned biological fields, who will discuss issues as the following:
- What explanatory role can the principle of organization play in biology, and how can it generate new theoretical frameworks and research programs?
- How can the principle be applied to interpret experimental data, and to conceive new experimental setups?
- How should be interpreted the relations between the principle of organisation and the principle of natural selection?
Attendance is free, but people are kindly asked to register by email (matteo.mossio@univ-paris1.fr).
Programme
Wednesday 27 September 2017
14h00-14h30: Welcome and Introduction by Matteo Mossio (IHPST, CNRS, Paris) & Andrea Gambarotto (ISP, Université Catholique de Louvain)
Session 1
Chair: Charbel El-Hani (Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia)
14h30-15h30 : Charles Wolfe (Ghent University) : “Whole – Part Relations: The Montpellier Vitalist Approach ?”
15h30-16h30 : Georg Toepfer (Zentrum für Literatur und Kultursforschung, Berlin): “‘Organisation’ and its Relationship to Other Fundamental Biological Concepts”
16h30-17h00 : Coffee break
17h00-18h00 : Olivier Sartenaer (ISP, Université Catholique de Louvain): “Does organicism really need organisation?”
Thursday 28 September 2017
Session 2
Chair: Laurent Loison (IHPST, CNRS, Paris)
09h15-10h15 : Olaf Wolkenhauer (SBI, Rostock University): “A Conceptual Framework to Investigate Tissue Organisation”
10h15-10h45 : Coffee break
10h45-11h45 : Ana Soto (IPP, Tufts University School of Medicine) & Maël Montévil (MSC, University of Paris 7 Diderot) : “Modeling mammary organogenesis from biological first principles: cells and organization of constraints”
11h45-12h45 : Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo (IAS-Research, University of the Basque Country): “Searching for the principles of biological organization through a ‘systems chemistry’ approach”
12h45-14h30 : Lunch
Session 3
Chair: Gaëlle Pontarotti (IHPST, University of Paris 1)
14h30-15h30 : Gertrudis van der Vijver (HICO, Ghent University): “Organisation: a presupposition, a hypothesis, a principle, an Idea? On the various meanings and epistemological impact of an attitudinal stance”
15h30-16h30 : Philippe Huneman (IHPST, CNRS, Paris): “Organisms: between a Kantian approach and an evolutionary approach”
16h30 -17h00 : Coffee break
17h00-18h00 : Leonardo Bich (ImmunoConcEpT, University of Bordeaux): “Biological organisation, teleology and development”
Friday 29 September 2017
Session 4
Chair: Francesca Merlin (IHPST, CNRS Paris)
09h15-10h15 : Nei Nunes-Neto (Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia): “Ecocentrism and ecological closure of constraints”
10h15-10h45 : Coffee break
10h45-11h45 : Johannes Jäger (Complexity Science Hub, Vienna) : “Structuralist perspectives on the evolution of developmental processes”
11h45-12h45 : Argyris Arnellos (IAS-Research, University of the Basque Country) : “The body complexity thesis: organizational requirements for multicellular agency”
12h45-13h30 : Conclusions and general discussion chaired by Matteo Mossio and Andrea Gambarotto
13h30-15h00 : Lunch
