Viability explanation

Wouters, Arno

doi:10.1007/bf00857593

Cited by 48 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because the word “ function ” has strong teleological connotations, many biologists hasten to clarify that they invoke neither purpose nor intention when they use the notion of function. The subtle reasoning that accompanies these notions, however, is often overlooked (Wouters, 1999; Looijen, 2000), not in the least because the term “ function ” is used in various ways. Here, we adopt the perspective of Wouters (1999), who distinguished four principal kinds of biological function.…”

Section: Systems Biology Of Intelligence: Reconstructing the Emergencmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The subtle reasoning that accompanies these notions, however, is often overlooked (Wouters, 1999; Looijen, 2000), not in the least because the term “ function ” is used in various ways. Here, we adopt the perspective of Wouters (1999), who distinguished four principal kinds of biological function. In short, he argues that the term “ function ” is used to refer to: (i) function as activity; (ii) function as role; (iii) function as advantage; and (iv) function as selected effect (Wouters, 2003, 2013).…”

Section: Systems Biology Of Intelligence: Reconstructing the Emergencmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Macromolecular networks and intelligence in microorganisms

Westerhoff¹,

Brooks²,

Simeonidis³

et al. 2014

Front. Microbiol.

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Living organisms persist by virtue of complex interactions among many components organized into dynamic, environment-responsive networks that span multiple scales and dimensions. Biological networks constitute a type of information and communication technology (ICT): they receive information from the outside and inside of cells, integrate and interpret this information, and then activate a response. Biological networks enable molecules within cells, and even cells themselves, to communicate with each other and their environment. We have become accustomed to associating brain activity – particularly activity of the human brain – with a phenomenon we call “intelligence.” Yet, four billion years of evolution could have selected networks with topologies and dynamics that confer traits analogous to this intelligence, even though they were outside the intercellular networks of the brain. Here, we explore how macromolecular networks in microbes confer intelligent characteristics, such as memory, anticipation, adaptation and reflection and we review current understanding of how network organization reflects the type of intelligence required for the environments in which they were selected. We propose that, if we were to leave terms such as “human” and “brain” out of the defining features of “intelligence,” all forms of life – from microbes to humans – exhibit some or all characteristics consistent with “intelligence.” We then review advances in genome-wide data production and analysis, especially in microbes, that provide a lens into microbial intelligence and propose how the insights derived from quantitatively characterizing biomolecular networks may enable synthetic biologists to create intelligent molecular networks for biotechnology, possibly generating new forms of intelligence, first in silico and then in vivo.

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Section: Systems Biology Of Intelligence: Reconstructing the Emergencmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Systems Biology Of Intelligence: Reconstructing the Emergencmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macromolecular networks and intelligence in microorganisms

Westerhoff¹,

Brooks²,

Simeonidis³

et al. 2014

Front. Microbiol.

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show abstract

“…The leading advocate of the view that some areas of biology can do without an evolutionary perspective is Arno Wouters (1995Wouters ( , 2003Wouters ( , 2005aWouters ( , 2005b:…”

Section: Can Biology Do Without An Evolutionary Perspective?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In his earlier papers Wouters conceived this overall capacity as 'viability' -the ability to stay alive. Functional biology constructs 'viability explanations' (Wouters, 1995). In more recent papers Wouters has developed a slightly different conception of explanation in functional biology which he calls 'design explanation' (Wouters, 2007).…”

Section: Can Biology Do Without An Evolutionary Perspective?mentioning

confidence: 99%

In What Sense Does ‘Nothing Make Sense Except in the Light of Evolution’?

Griffiths

2008

Acta Biotheor

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“…His many publications are on such topics as natural kinds (1990,1992), the colour categories (1993), and probability (1991). Since his departure for Leuven in 1994, however, the Utrecht faculty has virtually ceased work in philosophy of science, with the exception of the research of Arno Wouters (1995) into functional explanation.…”

Section: Areas Of Research In Philosophy Of Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Philosophy of science in the Netherlands

McAllister

1997

International Studies in the Philosophy of Science

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Viability explanation

Cited by 48 publications

References 22 publications

Macromolecular networks and intelligence in microorganisms

Macromolecular networks and intelligence in microorganisms

In What Sense Does ‘Nothing Make Sense Except in the Light of Evolution’?

Philosophy of science in the Netherlands

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