The hole in the whale - The philosophy of biology
Gottfried Kleinschmidt in the forum border questions Some important key concepts of this "philosophy of biology" are: physics versus biology - evolution and molecular biology - world formula and biology - theory of evolution and population genetics - information theory and genetics - extragalactic life (God) and the philosophy of biology - evolutionary biology and zoology . The book aims not only to contribute to the "new philosophy of biology", but also to clarify what evolutionary biology actually is. These clarification processes require an intensive study of our ideas about coincidence, time, cause, purpose, effect, diversity and life. The book will therefore receive the desired attention from physicists, biologists, computer scientists and philosophers. It challenges critical engagement. Some important questions of the five chapters are: Where does the endeavor of theoretical physicists to conceive a world formula come from? What are the differences between biology and theoretical physics? Can the discussion between Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr on "the hole in the whale" help clarify the tensions between physics and biology? Can evolutionary biology (Ernst Mayr) contribute to clarifying the discrepancies between biology and physics? How do scientists today interpret the famous book by the well-known physicist Erwin Schrödinger "What is life?" and what are the conclusions for the "new philosophy of biology"? How do well-known experts and basic researchers interpret the connections between sociobiology, evolutionary genetics, bioinformatics, molecular biology and physics? The interdisciplinary (cross-curricular) approach of the technical talks is interesting and informative. In this way, some incompatible positions become clear. It is precisely these points of discrepancy and contrary positions that form the central themes of the "new philosophy of biology". It is therefore due to the complexity of the topic that many questions cannot be answered conclusively. The summary appraisal of the work allows only selective comments on some critical points of discussion. Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) presented his "Formula for the World" (World Formula) in 1958 in connection with an academic celebration of Max Planck's hundredth birthday. In 1988 the English astrophysicist and mathematician Stephen W. Hawking published his theory of a world formula. This world formula could be a "final triumph of human reason - for then we would know God's plan." French physicists and mathematicians in particular have sharply criticized St. W. Hawking, describing his search for the world formula as "the megalomaniacal delirium of an unrealistic scholar" (Ètienne Klein & Marc Lachièze-Rey, 1996). The always asked and fascinating question is: Can the phenomena of life be reduced to a few laws or a single law or to quantum mechanical processes? The search for the world formula is linked to the controversially discussed "reductionism". This reductionism is related to mathematics. Mathematics is not just the language of astronomy and physics, it is the basis of all science today, it is the language of science par excellence. Mathematics is the royal road to truth! Leibniz said: "God wrote the world in numbers!" And Aristotle is said to have said, "All heaven is harmony and number." - Not only evolutionary biology, but also the "new philosophy of biology" has to deal intensively with this "reductionism". The powerful means of describing the subatomic world are the "uncertainty relation" (W. Heisenberg) and the principle of complementarity" (N. Bohr). The crucial question is: Does biology also have to be subordinate to this mathematical-physical interpretation of inanimate and animate nature? It is worth noting that until the middle of the 20th century nobody could coherently reconcile the various ideas and theories about leaps, inheritance, Lamarckism, natural selection, reductionism and holism, mutation and origin of species.The main attack of evolutionary biology was directed against physicalism. At the center of the arguments were essentialism, determinism, reductionism, finalism and teleology, as well as belief in some cosmic or whatever purpose in nature. Ernst Mayr, as an evolutionary biologist, claims that the world of mathematics is contrary to the world of life stands in the world of life is all variation. Change and deviations are the sources for new, future developments! In biology, the time factor (the historical principle) plays a decisive role, for example for the change in a population through natural selection. What is the function of chance and necessity in nature? At this point, reference should be made to the heated debate about the concepts of goal, purpose and cause in evolution, in which Max Delbrück intensively participated in 1971.
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