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479Individuating Part-whole Relations in the Biological WorldIn O. Bueno, R. Chen & M. B. Fagan (eds.), Individuation across Experimental and Theoretical Sciences, Oxford University Press. 2018.What are the conditions under which one biological object is a part of another biological object? This paper answers this question by developing a general, systematic account of biological parthood. I specify two criteria for biological parthood. Substantial Spatial Inclusionrequires biological parts to be spatially located inside or in the region that the natural boundary of t he biological whole occupies. Compositional Relevance captures the fact that a …Read more
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488Well-Ordered Philosophy? Reflections on Kitcher's Proposal for a Renewal of Philosophy.In Marie I. Kaiser & A. Seide (eds.), Philip Kitcher – Pragmatic Naturalism., Ontos. pp. 161-174. 2013.In his recent article Philosophy Inside Out, Philip Kitcher presents a metaphilosophical outlook that aims at nothing less than a renewal of philosophy. His idea is to draw philosophers’ attention away from “timeless questions” in the so-called “core areas” of philosophy. Instead, philosophers should address questions that matter to human lives. The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to reconstruct Kitcher’s view of how philosophy should be renewed; second, to point out some difficulties relat…Read more
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437An Ontic Account of Explanatory Reduction in BiologyKölner Hochschulschriften. 2012.Convincing disputes about explanatory reductionism in the philosophy of biology require a clear and precise understanding of what a reductive explanation in biology is. The central aim of this book is to provide such an account by revealing the features that determine the reductive character of a biological explanation. Chapters I-IV provide the ground, on which I can then, in Chapter V, develop my own account of explanatory reduction in biology: Chapter I reveals the meta-philosophical assumpti…Read more
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237ReductionIn W. Dubitzky, O. Wolkenhauer, K.-H. Cho & H. Yokota (eds.), Encyclopedia of Systems Biology, Vol. X, Springer. pp. 1827-1830. 2013.This is a contribution to the encyclopedia of systems biology on reduction.
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695Der evolutionäre Naturalismus in der EthikIn Jochen Oehler (ed.), Der Mensch - Evolution, Natur und Kultur: Beiträge zu unserem heutigen Menschenbild, Springer. pp. 261-283. 2010.Charles Darwin hat eindrucksvoll gezeigt, dass der Mensch ebenso wie alle anderen Lebewesen ein Produkt der biologischen Evolution ist. Die sich an Darwin anschließende Forschung hat außerdem plausibel gemacht, dass sich nicht nur viele der körperlichen Merkmale des Menschen, sondern auch (zumindest einige) seiner Verhaltensdispositionen in adaptiven Selektionsprozessen herausgebildet haben. Die Vorstellung, dass auch die menschliche Moralität evolutionär bedingt ist, scheint daher auf den erste…Read more
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943Pragmatism, Realism, and Science. From Argument to PropagandaIn Andreas Vieth (ed.), Richard Rorty: His Philosophy Under Discussion, Verlag. pp. 65-78. 2005.Richard Rorty is well known as a propagandist of pragmatism and of a "post-philosophical" culture in which many traditional philosophical debates are dismissed as outrightly fruitless. The paper is mainly concerned with Rorty's dismissal of the realism-antirealism debate. The shift from argument to propaganda which is typical of much of Rorty's reasoning is critically investigated from different perspectives. In particular, it is argued that Rorty cannot convincingly establish a pragmatist posit…Read more
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334Philosophy of MicrobiologyInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 29 (2): 224-228. 2015.Book Review Philosophy of Microbiology MAUREEN A. O’MALLEY
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771Why It Is Time To Move Beyond Nagelian ReductionIn D. Dieks, W. J. Gonzalez, S. Hartmann, M. Stöltzner & M. Weber (eds.), Probabilities, Laws, and Structures. The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, Springer. pp. 255-272. 2012.In this paper I argue that it is finally time to move beyond the Nagelian framework and to break new ground in thinking about epistemic reduction in biology. I will do so, not by simply repeating all the old objections that have been raised against Ernest Nagel’s classical model of theory reduction. Rather, I grant that a proponent of Nagel’s approach can handle several of these problems but that, nevertheless, Nagel’s general way of thinking about epistemic reduction in terms of theories and th…Read more
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420L'explication en biologieIn F. Merlin & T. Hoquet (eds.), Précis de Philosophie de la biologie [Handbook Philosophy of Biology], Vuibert Press. pp. 143-155. 2014.
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227Biological PartsIn H. Burkhardt, J. Seibt & G. Imaguire (eds.), Handbook of Mereology, Philosophia Verlag Gmbh. pp. 97-100. 2017.
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68Explanation in the special science: The case of biology and history (edited book)Springer. 2014.Biology and history are often viewed as closely related disciplines, with biology informed by history, especially in its task of charting our evolutionary past. Maximizing the opportunities for cross-fertilization in these two fields requires an accurate reckoning of their commonalities and differences-precisely what this volume sets out to achieve. Specially commissioned essays by a team of recognized international researchers cover the full panoply of topics in these fields and include notable…Read more
University of Cologne
PhD, 2012
Bielefeld, NRW, Germany
Areas of Specialization
Metaphilosophy |
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Biology |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Epistemology |