Closure, function, emergence, semiosis, and life: the same idea? Reflections on the concrete and the abstract in theoretical biology.
In this note epistemological problems in general theories about living systems are considered; in particular, the question of hidden connections between different areas of experience, such as folk biology and scientific biology, and hidden connections between central concepts of theoretical biology, such as function, semiosis, closure, and life.
Emmeche
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Center for the Philosophy of Nature and Science Studies, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark. emmeche@nbi.dk
D005075:Biological Evolution; D019359:Knowledge; D019369:Life; D008954:Models, Biological