Hidden Concepts in the History and Philosophy of Origins-of-Life Studies: a Workshop Report

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60461373%3A22340%2F19%3A43918710" target="_blank" >RIV/60461373:22340/19:43918710 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11084-019-09580-x" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11084-019-09580-x</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-019-09580-x" target="_blank" >10.1007/s11084-019-09580-x</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Hidden Concepts in the History and Philosophy of Origins-of-Life Studies: a Workshop Report

Original language description

In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life research and provide a targeted history of the developments that have led to the multidisciplinary field of origins-of-life studies. We outline these issues and developments to guide researchers and students from all fields. With respect to philosophy, we provide brief summaries of debates with respect to (1) definitions (or theories) of life, what life is and how research should be conducted in the absence of an accepted theory of life, (2) the distinctions between synthetic, historical, and universal projects in origins-of-life studies, issues with strategies for inferring the origins of life, such as (3) the nature of the first living entities (the &quot;bottom up&quot; approach) and (4) how to infer the nature of the last universal common ancestor (the &quot;top down&quot; approach), and (5) the status of origins of life as a science. Each of these debates influences the others. Although there are clusters of researchers that agree on some answers to these issues, each of these debates is still open. With respect to history, we outline several independent paths that have led to some of the approaches now prevalent in origins-of-life studies. These include one path from early views of life through the scientific revolutions brought about by Linnaeus (von Linn.), Wohler, Miller, and others. In this approach, new theories, tools, and evidence guide new thoughts about the nature of life and its origin. We also describe another family of paths motivated by a&quot; circularity&quot; approach to life, which is guided by such thinkers as Maturana &amp; Varela, Ganti, Rosen, and others. These views echo ideas developed by Kant and Aristotle, though they do so using modern science in ways that produce exciting avenues of investigation. By exploring the history of these ideas, we can see how many of the issues that currently interest us have been guided by the contexts in which the ideas were developed. The disciplinary backgrounds of each of these scholars has influenced the questions they sought to answer, the experiments they envisioned, and the kinds of data they collected. We conclude by encouraging scientists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences to explore ways in which they can interact to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptual assumptions, structure, and history of origins-of-life research. This may be useful to help frame future research agendas and bring awareness to the multifaceted issues facing this challenging scientific question.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10602 - Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres

ISSN

0169-6149

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

49

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

35

Pages from-to

111-145

UT code for WoS article

000494504900001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85071171523