JOURNAL OF DIALECTICS OF NATURE
A Comprehensive, Academic Journal of the Philosophy, History, Sociology and Cultural Studies of Science and Technology
Author Information
LU Qiaoying
Information
<p>Department of Philosophy</p><p>Sun Yat-sen University</p><p>luqiaoy@mail2.sysu.edu.cn</p>
Research Articles
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Would Inheritance of Acquired Characters be Revived? Abstract: The "inheritance of acquired characters” (IAC) refers to the phenomenon that changes acquired by an organism during its lifetime are transmitted to its offspring. IAC is regarded as one of Lamarck's major contributions. Although IAC attracted lots of attentions in the late middle of 19 th century, it was abandoned after the famous Modern Synthesis. However, recent empirical studies from epigenetics might announce its revival. The investigation of the history of IAC reveals that there are at least two concepts of IAC, the traditional IAC and the commonsense one. Instead of the former, a kind of commonsense IAC has been revived by epigenetic inheritance.Issue:Volume 39, lssue 6, November 2017Page: 30-36
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Biological Functions and Their Teleological Implications Abstract: The widespread acceptance of natural selection has led to the belief that telos in the natural world can be explained by physical processes. However, teleological statements persist in current biology. This paper examines the teleological implications of different conceptions of function and their connections with scientific explanations. Early attempts to reduce functional statements to logical relations failed, leading to two main approaches: the selected effect function and the causal role function. The former grounds function in actual evolutionary history, legitimizing an account of biological teleology, while the latter defines function through physical causation in a target system, eliminating the normative aspect of function and biological teleology. Subsequent discussions explore the relationships between the two approaches in which the teleological implications of normative function have changed from evolutionary history to the persistence of organisms. Key Words: Function; Biological teleology; Functional explanation; Selected effect function; Causal role functionIssue:Volume 46, lssue 7, July 2024Page: 1-10
JOURNAL OF DIALECTICS OF NATURE
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