Spór o genocentryzm w filozofii biologii

Aleksander A. Ziemny

doi:10.21697/2017.53.1.13

Published: 2018-02-15

Vol. 53 No. 1 (2017)

Controversy over gene-centrism in the philosophy of biology

Aleksander A. Ziemny

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

Section: Papers

https://doi.org/10.21697/2017.53.1.13

Abstract

The roots of the gene-centric view should be sought in a dynamic development of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century genetics – especially the modern evolutionary synthesis and molecular genetics. Behind this idea is a thesis that in biological sciences explanations that refer to genetic factors are privileged. In turn, the most important assumption of this thesis is that at the molecular level the genes and genetic code play a special role in determining the development of an organism.
Although the gene-centric conception is one of the cornerstones of modern evolution theory, it has little interest in broader problems of development. Therefore, in recent years there has been a shift towards an alternative perspective stressing the importance of non- -genetic factors in explaining the phenomena and processes of biological development.
Especially interesting in this context are arguments and ideas purporting to reject the thesis of a special role of genes and genetic code, particularly in the field of evolutionary developmental biology. An evo-devo context seems interesting because of its ambition to integrate developmental biology with evolutionary biology.

Keywords:

philosophy of nature, philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, genetics, gene-centrism, evo-devo

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Ziemny, A. A. (2018). Controversy over gene-centrism in the philosophy of biology. Studia Philosophiae Christianae, 53(1), 143–168. https://doi.org/10.21697/2017.53.1.13

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