Biochemical Kinds

Abstract

Chemical kinds (e.g. gold) are generally treated as having timelessly fixed identities. Biological kinds (e.g. goldfinches) are generally treated as evolved and/or evolving entities. So what kind of kind is a biochemical kind? This paper defends the thesis that biochemical molecules are clustered chemical kinds, some of which-namely, evolutionarily conserved units-are also biological kinds. On this thesis, a number of difficulties that have recently occupied philosophers concerned with proteins and kinds are shown to be resolved or dissolved.

Where Do You Get Your Protein? Or: Biochemical Realization

“…The upshot of my case study is this: classifying proteins like haemoglobin only in terms of their biological function is potentially too coarse-grained and involves a risk of interest relativeness. This result reflects, to some extent, the work of Goodwin ([ 2011 ]), Bartol ([ 2016 ]), and Havstad ([ 2018 ]). Bartol ([ 2016 ], p. 543) recommends that we should adopt a ‘dual theory’ of chemical and biological kinds with respect to macromolecules such as proteins, driven precisely by issues surrounding multiple realization, whereas Goodwin’s view appears compatible with ontological reductionism.…”

“…This result reflects, to some extent, the work of Goodwin ([ 2011 ]), Bartol ([ 2016 ]), and Havstad ([ 2018 ]). Bartol ([ 2016 ], p. 543) recommends that we should adopt a ‘dual theory’ of chemical and biological kinds with respect to macromolecules such as proteins, driven precisely by issues surrounding multiple realization, whereas Goodwin’s view appears compatible with ontological reductionism. Bartol also points out that there could be at least pragmatic reasons to prefer a different classificatory practice.…”

“…This looks like a case of multiple determinations, one microstructure realizing multiple functional roles. Hence, we have a challenge for one–one reduction (see also Slater [2009] ; Bartol [2016] , pp. 536, 542).…”

“…Philosophers of science have recently taken an interest in biochemical kinds, namely, natural kinds at the intersection of chemistry and biology, such as proteins (for example, Slater [2009] ; Tobin [2010] ; Goodwin [2011] ; Bartol [2016] ; Havstad [2018] ). Proteins are macromolecules, which can be studied from both biological and chemical perspectives.…”

“…These arguments do not, of course, automatically undermine the claim that the functional properties of proteins are determined by the microstructure. However, many authors (for example, Bartol [2016] , pp. 542–2) continue to hold that multiple realization is at least a prima facie challenge for ontological reductionism precisely because the functions are underdetermined by the microstructure.…”