Glossary
adaptation: An attribute of
an organism that appears to be of value for something, generally its survival
or reproduction. The purposive, or seemingly purposive, nature of
adaptations can be thought of in terms of teleology or teleonomy (q.v.).
allele: Each gene (q.v.) occupies a particular
region of a chromosome, its locus. At any given locus, there may exist
alternative forms of the gene. These are called alleles of each other.
atavism: The reappearance of characteristics
of more or Im remote ancestors. Also called reversion or throwing back.
atom: In the philosophy of atomism (q.v.),
the eternal, invariant, impenetrably hard, homogeneous, ultimate unit of
matter. In chemistry, the smallest unit or part of an element that can
take part in a chemical reaction. In modern physics, a complex structure
of activity, with a central nucleus orbited by electrons. Nuclei and their
constituent particles are in turn complex structures of activity.
atomism: The doctrine that all things
are composed of ultimate, indivisible atoms of matter endowed with motion.
These ultimate particles are the enduring basis of all reality. In the
modern form of this philosophy, atoms have been superseded by fundamental
subatomic particles.
attractor: A term used in modern
dynamics to denote a limit towards which trajectories of change within
a dynamical system move. Attractors generally lie within basins of attraction.
Attractors and basins of attraction are essential features of the mathematical
models of morphogenetic fields due to Rene Thom.
chreode: A canalized pathway of change
within a morphic field.
chromosomes. Microscopic, threadlike
structures found in the nuclei of living cells, and also in cells without
nuclei such as bacteria. They are made up of DNA and protein and contain
chains of genes.
cybernetics: The theory of communication
and control mechanisms in living systems and machines.
dialectical materialism: A form of
materialism that sees matter not as something static, on which change and
development have to be imposed, but as, containing within its own nature
those tensions or "contradictions" that provide the motive force for change.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid, a molecule consisting
of a large number of chemical units called nucleotides attached together
in single file to form a long strand. Usually two such strands are linked
together parallel to each other and coiled into a helix. DNA is the material
of genetic inheritance, but in higher organisms only a small proportion
of the DNA appears to be in genes. DNA contains four kinds of nucleotide,
and the sequence of the nucleotides is the basis of the genetic code. DNA
strands pass on their structure to copies of themselves in the process
of replication, and the genetic code of genes can be "translated" into
the sequences of amino acids which are joined together in chains to form
proteins. Protein synthesis takes place on the basis of strands of RNA
(ribonucleic acid), which serve as templates. These are "transcribed" from
the DNA of genes.
dominance: In genetics, a dominant gene
is one that brings about the same phenotypic (q.v.) effects whether it
is present in a single dose along with a specified allele (q.v.), or in
a double dose. The allele that is ineffective in the presence of the dominant
gene is said to be recessive.
dualism: The philosophical doctrine that
mind and matter exist as independent entities, neither being reducible
to the other (cf. materialism).
energy: in general, the capacity or power
to produce an effect. in the technical sense of physics, energy is the
property of a system that is a measure of its capacity for doing work.
Work is technically defined as what is done when a force moves its point
of application. Energy can be potential or kinetic, and it comes in a variety
of forms: electrical, thermal, chemical, nuclear, radiant, and mechanical.
entelechy: In Aristotelian philosophy,
the principle of life, identified with the soul or psyche. The entelechy
is both the formal or formative cause and the final cause, or end, of a
living body; thus there is always an internalized purpose in life. In the
vitalism (q.v.) of Hans Driesch, entelechy is the nonmaterial vital principle,
a directive, teleological causal factor which brings about harmonious developmental,
behavioural, and mental processes (cf. genetic program and morphic field).
epigenesis: The origin of new structures
during embryonic development (cf. preformation).
evolution: Literally, a process of unrolling
or opening out. In biology, originally applied to the development of individual
plants and animals, which according to the doctrine of preformation depended
on the unrolling or unfolding of pre-existing parts. Only in the 1830s
was this word first applied to the historical transmutation of organisms;
by the 1860s and 1870s it had come to refer to a general process of transmutation,
which was generally assumed to be directional or progressive. Darwin's
theory of evolution by natural selection enabled this process to be thought
of as blind and purposeless, and this interpretation is central to neo-Darwinism
(q.v.), the dominant orthodoxy in modern biology. A variety of other evolutionary
philosophies postulate an inherently creative principle in matter or in
life; and some see in the evolutionary process the manifestation of a directional
or purposive principle. According to modern cosmology, the entire universe
is an evolutionary system.
field: A region of physical influence. Fields
interrelate and interconnect matter and energy within their realm of influence.
Fields are not a form of matter; rather, matter is energy bound within
fields. In current physics, several kinds of fundamental field are recognized:
the gravitational and electromagnetic fields and the matter fields of quantum
physics. The hypothesis of formative causation broadens the concept of
physical fields to include morphic fields as well as the known fields of
physics.
force: In general, active power; strength
or energy brought to bear. In physics, an external agency capable of altering
the state of rest or motion of a body.
form: The shape, configuration, or structure
of something as distinguished from its material. In the Platonic tradition,
the term Form is used to translate the Greek term eides and is interchangeable
with the term Idea. Particular things we experience in the world participate
in their eternal Forms, which transcend space and time. By contrast, in
the Aristotelian tradition, the forms of things are immanent in the things
themselves. From the nominalist point of view, forms have no objective
reality independent of our own minds.
formative causation,
hypothesis of: The hypothesis that organisms or morphic units (q.v.)
at all levels of complexity are organized by morphic fields, which are
themselves influenced and stabilized by morphic resonance (q.v.) from all
previous similar morphic units.
gene: A unit of the material of inheritance.
Genes consist of DNA and are situated in chromosomes; an individual gene
is a short length of chromosome that influences a particular character
or set of characters of an organism in a particular way. Alternative forms
of the same gene are called alleles. The unit of the gene is defined in
different ways for different purposes: for molecular biologists it is usually
regarded as a cistron, a length of DNA that codes for a chain of
amino acids in a protein. For some schools of neo-Darwinism, the gene is
the unit of selection, and evolution is the change of gene frequencies
in populations.
genetic program: A program is a plan of
intended proceedings, as in a concert or computer program. The concept
of the genetic program implies that organisms inherit plans of intended
proceedings; these plans are assumed to be carried in the genes. The genetic
program is the principal metaphor through which conceptions of purposive
activity and of formative causes are introduced into modern biology (cf.
entelechy).
genotype: The genetic constitution of
an organism (cf. phenotype).
gestalt: A German term roughly meaning
form, configuration, shape, or essence. The term is used to refer to unified
wholes, complete structures or totalities which cannot be reduced to the
sum of their parts.
habit: A bodily or mental disposition; a
settled tendency to appear or behave in a certain way, generally acquired
by frequent repetition; a settled practice, custom, or usage. The word
habit also means dress or attire, as in a monk's habit. In biology, it
is used to refer to the characteristic mode of growth or appearance of
a plant or animal; and crystallographers refer to the habits of crystals,
meaning the characteristic forms they assume. On the hypothesis of formative
causation, the nature of morphic units at all levels of complexity tends
to become increasingly habitual through repetition, owing to morphic resonance.
heredity: The transmission of characters
from ancestors to their descendents. Originally understood in a broad sense
which included the inheritance of acquired characteristics and habits of
life; restricted in modern biology to mean the inheritance of genes (see
Mendelian inheritance, neo-Darwinism).
According to the hypothesis of formative causation, heredity includes both
genetic inheritance and the inheritance of morphic fields by morphic resonance.
holism: The doctrine that wholes are more
than the sum of their parts (cf. reductionism).
holon: A whole that can also be part of
a larger whole. Holons are organized in multi-levelled nested hierarchies
or holarchies. This term, due to Arthur Koestler, is equivalent in meaning
to morphic unit (q.v.).
homoeotic mutation: A mutation causing
one part of the body to develop in a manner appropriate to another part:
for example, a leg growing where an antenna normally does in a fruit fly.
information: To inform literally means
to put into form or shape. information is now generally taken to be the
source of form or order in the world; information is informative and plays
the role of a formative cause, as for example in the concept of "genetic
information."
information theory: A branch of cybernetics
(q.v.) that attempts to define the amount of information required to control
a process of given complexity. Information in this narrow technical sense
is measured in bits. A bit is the amount of information required to specify
one of two alternatives, for example to distinguish between 1 and 0 in
the binary notation used in computers.
interactionism: A form of dualism
(q.v.) according to which mental events can cause physical events, and
vice versa.
Lamarckian inheritance: The inheritance
of acquired characteristics. Until the late nineteenth century, it was
generally believed that characteristics acquired by organisms in response
to the conditions of life or as a result of their own habits could be inherited
by their descendents, and both Lamarck and Darwin shared this general
opinion. The possibility of this type of inheritance is denied on theoretical
grounds by the current orthodoxy of genetics (cf. Mendelian
inheritance).
materialism: The doctrine that whatever
exists is either matter or entirely dependent on matter for its existence.
matter: That which has traditionally been
contrasted with form or with mind. In the philosophy of materialism, matter
is the substance and basis of all reality, and is usually conceived of
in the spirit of atomism. In Newtonian physics, matter, distinguished by
mass and extension, was contrasted with energy. According to relativity
theory, mass and energy are mutually transformable, and material systems
are now regarded as forms of energy.
mechanics: In its broad, traditional
sense, the body of practical and theoretical knowledge concerned with the
invention and construction of machines, the explanation of their operation,
and the calculation of their efficiency. In physics, the study of the behaviour
of matter under the action of force. in the present century, Newtonian
mechanics has been substantially modified by relativity theory and has
been replaced by quantum mechanics as a method of interpreting physical
phenomena occurring on a very small scale.
mechanistic theory: The theory that
all physical phenomena can be explained mechanically (see mechanics), without
reference to goals or purposive designs (cf. teleology). The central metaphor
is the machine. In the seventeenth century, the universe was conceived
of as a vast machine, designed, made, and set running by God and governed
by his eternal laws. By the late nineteenth century, it was commonly regarded
as an eternal machine which was slowly running down. In biology, the mechanistic
theory states that living organisms are nothing but inanimate machines
or mechanical systems: all the phenomena of life can in principle be understood
in terms of mechanical models and can ultimately be explained in terms
of physics and chemistry.
meme: A term coined by Richard Dawkins, who
defines it as "a unit of cultural inheritance, hypothesized as analogous
to the particulate gene and as naturally selected by virtue of its 'phenotypic'
consequences on its own survival and replication in the cultural environment."
memory: The capacity for remembering, recalling,
recollecting, or recognizing. From the mechanistic point of view, animal
and human memory depend on material memory traces within the nervous system.
From the point of view of the hypothesis of formative causation, memory
in its various forms, both conscious and unconscious, is due to morphic
resonance.
Mendelian inheritance: Inheritance by
means of pairs of discrete hereditary factors, now identified with genes.
One member of each pair comes from each parent. The genes may blend in
their effects on the body, but they do not themselves blend and are passed
on intact to future generations.
mind: In Cartesian dualism, the conscious
thinking mind is distinct from the material body; the mind is non-material.
Materialists derive the mind from the physical activity of the brain. Depth
psychologists point out that the conscious mind is associated with a much
broader or deeper mental system, the unconscious mind. In the view of Jung,
the unconscious mind is not merely individual but collective. On the hypothesis
of formative causation, mental activity, conscious and unconscious, takes
place within and through mental fields, which like other kinds of morphic
fields contain a kind of in-built memory.
molecule: A chemical unit. The smallest
amount of a chemical substance that is capable of independent existence.
Each kind of molecule has a characteristic atomic composition, a specific
structure, and specific physical and chemical properties.
morphic field: A field within and around
a morphic unit which organizes its characteristic structure and pattern
of activity. Morphic fields underlie the form and behaviour of holons or
morphic units at all levels of complexity. The term morphic field includes
morphogenetic, behavioural, social, cultural, and mental fields. Morphic
fields are shaped and stabilized by morphic resonance from previous similar
morphic units, which were under the influence of fields of the same kind.
They consequently contain a kind of cumulative memory and tend to become
increasingly habitual.
morphic resonance: The influence of previous
structures of activity on subsequent similar structures of activity organized
by morphic fields. Through morphic resonance, formative causal influences
pass through or across both space and time, and these influences are assumed
not to fall off with distance in space or time, but they come only from
the past. The greater the degree of similarity, the greater the influence
of morphic resonance. in general, morphic units closely resemble themselves
in the past and are subject to self-resonance from their own past states.
morphic unit: A unit of form or organization,
such as an atom, molecule, crystal, cell, plant, animal, pattern of instinctive
behaviour, social group, element of culture, ecosystem, planet, planetary
system, or galaxy. Morphic units are organized in nested hierarchies of
units within units: a crystal, for example, contains molecules, which contain
atoms, which contain electrons and nuclei, which contain nuclear particles,
which contain quarks.
morphogenesis: The coming into being
of form.
morphogenetic fields: Fields that
play a causal role in morphogenesis. This term, first proposed in the 1920s,
is now widely used by developmental biologists, but the nature of morphogenetic
fields has remained obscure. On the hypothesis of formative causation,
they are regarded as morphic fields stabilized by morphic resonance.
mutation: A sudden change. Mutations
are observed in the phenotypes of organisms, and can generally be traced
to changes in the genetic material. The term mutation is now generally
taken to mean a random change in a gene.
nature: Traditionally personified as Mother
Nature. The creative and controlling power operating in the physical world,
and the immediate cause of all phenomena within it. Or the inherent and
inseparable combination of qualities essentially pertaining to anything
and giving it its fundamental character. Or the inherent power or impulse
by which the activity of living organisms is directed or controlled. From
the conventional point of view of science, nature is made up of matter,
fields, and energy and is governed by the laws of nature, usually thought
to be eternal.
neo-Darwinism: The modern version
of the Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection. It differs from
Darwin's theory in that it denies the possibility of Lamarckian inheritance
(q.v.); heredity is explained in terms of genes passed on by Mendelian
inheritance (q.v.). Genes mutate at random, and the proportions of
alternative versions of genes, or alleles, within a population are influenced
by natural selection. In its most extreme form, neo-Darwinism reduces evolution
to changes of gene frequencies in populations.
organicism: A form of holism according
to which the world consists of organisms (or holons or morphic units, q.v.)
at all levels of complexity. Organisms are wholes made up of parts,
which are themselves organisms, and so on; they are organized in nested
hierarchies. The parts of organisms can be understood only in relation
to their activities and functions in the ongoing whole. Organisms in this
sense include atoms, molecules, crystals, cells, tissues, organs, plants
and animals, societies, cultures, ecosystems, planets, planetary systems,
and galaxies. In this spirit, the entire cosmos can be regarded as an organism
rather than a machine (cf. mechanistic theory).
paradigm: An example or pattern. in the
sense of T. S. Kuhn (1970), scientific paradigms are general ways of seeing
the world shared by members of a scientific community, and they provide
models of acceptable ways in which problems can be solved.
phenotype: The actual appearance of
an organism; its manifested attributes. Contrasted with the genotype, which
is the particular genetic material the organism has inherited from its
parents.
physicalism: A modern form of materialism.
The doctrine that all scientific propositions can in principle be expressed
in the terminology of the physical sciences, including propositions about
mental activity.
Platonism: The philosophical tradition
that, following Plato, postulates the existence of an autonomous realm
of Ideas or Forms or essences existing outside space and time and independently
of manifestations of them in the phenomenal world.
protein: A complex organic molecule composed
of many amino acids linked together in chains, called polypeptide chains.
The sequence of amino acids is specified by the sequence of nucleotides
in the DNA of genes. There may be one or more such chains in a protein,
and the chains are folded up into characteristic three-dimensional
configurations. Proteins are found in all living organisms, and there
are many different kinds of protein molecule. Many proteins are enzymes,
the catalysts of biochemical reactions; others play a variety of structural
and other roles.
preformation: The theory (now known
to be false) that the entire diversity of structure of adult organisms
pre-exists in the fertilized egg. Embryonic development supposedly
consisted merely of the manifestation of this preformed structure as it
enlarged and unfolded, or "evolved" (cf. epigenesis).
Pythagoreanism: The belief that
the universe is somehow essentially mathematical. its fundamental mathematical
reality transcends space and time. Closely akin to Platonism.
reductionism: The doctrine that more
complex phenomena can be reduced to less complex ones (cf. holism).
In philosophy, the theory that human behaviour can ultimately be
reduced to the behaviour of inanimate matter governed by the laws
of nature. In biology, the belief that all the phenomena of life
can ultimately be understood in terms of chemistry and physics. Closely
associated with the mechanistic theory, materialism, and atomism
(q.v.).
regulation: in embryology, the normal
development of an embryo, or part of an embryo, in spite of the disturbance
of its structure in some way, as by removing some of it, adding to
it, or rearranging it. For example, half of a young sea-urchin embryo
will develop into a small but normally proportioned larva and eventually
into a normal sea urchin.
synapse: An area of functional contact
between nerve cells or between nerve cells and effectors such as
muscle cells.
systems theory: A form of holism concerned
with the organization and properties of "systems" at all levels of
complexity. Much of the early inspiration for this approach came from an
attempt to establish parallels between physiological systems in biology
and social systems in the social sciences. The systems approach has been
deeply influenced by cybernetics (q.v.). The central metaphor in
much systems thinking is the self-regulating machine.
teleology: The study of ends or final
causes; the explanation of phenomena by reference to goals or purposes.
teleonomy: The science of adaptation.
"in effect, teleonomy is teleology made respectable by Darwin" (Dawkins,
1982). The apparently purposive structures, functions, and behaviour of
organisms are regarded as evolutionary adaptations established by natural
selection.
vitalism: The doctrine that living organisms
are truly vital or alive, as opposed to the mechanistic theory that they
are inanimate and mechanical. Living organization depends on purposive
vital factors, such as entelechy (q.v.), which are not reducible to the
ordinary laws of physics and chemistry. Vitalism is a less far-reaching
form of holism than organicism (q.v.), in so far as it accepts the mechanistic
assumption that the systems studied by physicists and chemists are inanimate
and essentially mechanical.
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