کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
---|---|---|---|---|
1161223 | 1490524 | 2013 | 16 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
![عکس صفحه اول مقاله: Systems biology and the integration of mechanistic explanation and mathematical explanation Systems biology and the integration of mechanistic explanation and mathematical explanation](/preview/png/1161223.png)
• Discusses the integration of mechanistic and mathematical styles of explanation.
• Analyzes several case studies from systems biology.
• Presents qualitative phenomena whose explanation requires a quantitative account.
• Draws conclusions for a broader ontological conception of mechanisms.
The paper discusses how systems biology is working toward complex accounts that integrate explanation in terms of mechanisms and explanation by mathematical models—which some philosophers have viewed as rival models of explanation. Systems biology is an integrative approach, and it strongly relies on mathematical modeling. Philosophical accounts of mechanisms capture integrative in the sense of multilevel and multifield explanations, yet accounts of mechanistic explanation (as the analysis of a whole in terms of its structural parts and their qualitative interactions) have failed to address how a mathematical model could contribute to such explanations. I discuss how mathematical equations can be explanatorily relevant. Several cases from systems biology are discussed to illustrate the interplay between mechanistic research and mathematical modeling, and I point to questions about qualitative phenomena (rather than the explanation of quantitative details), where quantitative models are still indispensable to the explanation. Systems biology shows that a broader philosophical conception of mechanisms is needed, which takes into account functional-dynamical aspects, interaction in complex networks with feedback loops, system-wide functional properties such as distributed functionality and robustness, and a mechanism’s ability to respond to perturbations (beyond its actual operation). I offer general conclusions for philosophical accounts of explanation.
Journal: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences - Volume 44, Issue 4, Part A, December 2013, Pages 477–492