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On physicalism and Downward Causation in Developmental and Cancer Biology

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Abstract

The dominant position in Philosophy of Science contends that downward causation is an illusion. Instead, we argue that downward causation doesn’t introduce vicious circles either in physics or in biology. We also question the metaphysical claim that “physical facts fix all the facts.” Downward causation does not imply any contradiction if we reject the assumption of the completeness and the causal closure of the physical world that this assertion contains. We provide an argument for rejecting this assumption. Furthermore, this allows us to reconsider the concept of diachronic emergence.

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Notes

  1. “The skyhook concept is perhaps a descendant of the deus ex machina of ancient Greek dramaturgy: when second-rate playwrights found their plots leading their heroes into inescapable difficulties they were often tempted to crank down a god into the scene, like Superman, to save the situation supernaturally” (Dennett 1996: 74).

  2. “That is, we interpret the hierarchical levels as levels of concepts and descriptions, or levels within our representational apparatus, rather than levels of properties and phenomena in the world”.

  3. Normally, “substrate neutrality” and “supervenience” are not compatible with a strong reductionism, since supervenient properties cannot be deduced form physical ones: “no actual derivation may be effected, owing to the famous “many-one” relation between the physical supervenience base and the biological properties to which the PNS adverts” (Rosenberg and Kaplan 2005).

  4. A system of molecules will assume in a long period of time all conceivable microstates that are compatible with the conservation of energy.

  5. The origin of this idea is in Feibleman (1954), see also Stengers (1997).

  6. “The same notion of a God’-Eye View”… the same epistemic ideal of achieving a view from an “Archimedean point”—a point from which we can survey observers as if they were not ourselves, survey them as if we were, so to speak, outside of our own skins—is involved” (Putnam 1990: 17).

  7. (Putnam 1990: 17).

  8. Differentiation: the sum of the developmental processes whereby from a single cell, the zygote the organism attains the diverse adult structures (cells, tissues and organs) and functions.

  9. Epithelium: an avascular tissue that covers a free surface or lines-up a tube or cavity in an animal body and serves especially to enclose and protect the other parts of the body, produces secretions and excretions, and functions in assimilation (modified from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  10. Stroma: the supporting framework of an animal organ consisting of connective tissue (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  11. Parenchyma: the distinctive tissue of an organ or an abnormal growth as distinguished from its supportive framework (modified from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  12. Basement membrane: a thin extracellular supporting layer that separates a layer of epithelial cells from the underlying lamina propria and is composed of the basal lamina and reticular lamina; Lamina propria: a highly vascular layer of connective tissue under the basement membrane lining a layer of epithelium (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  13. Hemidesmosomes: a specialization of the plasma membrane of an epithelial cell that serves to connect the basal surface of the cell to the basement membrane (modified from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  14. Organelles: literally, organelle means “little organ”; they are specialized cellular parts (as a mitochondrion or ribosome) that perform the metabolic and synthetic functions of a cell.

  15. Mesenchyme: loosely organized mesodermal embryonic tissue that give rise to connective tissues (modified from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  16. Gastrulation: after fertilization a series of rapid mitotic divisions (cleavage) result in the blastula. Next, the process of gastrulation takes place, whereby cells change positions with respect to each other; as the result of this process the germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm) are formed.

  17. Drosophila: a genus of small dipteran flies that include several (as D. melanogaster) that are extensively used in genetic research (modified from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  18. Mesoderm: the middle of the three primary germ layers of an embryo that is the source especially of bone, muscle, connective tissue, and dermis; broadly speaking, tissue derived from this germ layer (modified from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html).

  19. Germ band: a collection of cells along the ventral midline that includes all the cells that will form the trunk of the embryo (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?indexed=google&rid=dbio.section.1959).

  20. ‘Time is what makes itself and even what makes everything [else] make itself.’

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Ulises Moulines (University of Munich) and Doctor Slobodan Perovic (Carleton University) for their critical reading and helpful comments concerning an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    A. M. Soto & C. Sonnenschein

  2. Centre Cavaillès, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

    A. M. Soto, C. Sonnenschein & P. A. Miquel

  3. Centre de Recherche et d’Histoire des Idées, Université de Nice, Nice, France

    P. A. Miquel

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  1. A. M. Soto
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  2. C. Sonnenschein
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  3. P. A. Miquel
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Correspondence to P. A. Miquel.

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Soto, A.M., Sonnenschein, C. & Miquel, P.A. On physicalism and Downward Causation in Developmental and Cancer Biology. Acta Biotheor 56, 257–274 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-008-9052-y

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