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692La red teórica de la dinámica de poblacionesScientiae Studia 15 (2): 307. 2017.The general aim of this article is to carry out a reconstruction of the theory of Population Dynamics (DP) in Ecology, according to Castle’s (2001) general stance with regard to the semantic view of theories, but doing it within the framework of metatheoretical structuralism. Thus, we will first identify Population Dynamics’ basic theory-element: its core K(DP) – with the class of potential models, the class of models (through the identification of its fundamental law) and the class of parti…Read more
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628Introducción: Modelos y teorías en biologíaMetatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 6 5--46. 2016.Two metascientific concepts that have been ― and still are ― object of philosophical analysis are the concepts of model and theory. But while the concept of scientific theory was one of the concepts to which philosophers of science devoted most attention during the 20th century, it is only in recent decades that the concept of scientific model has come to occupy a central position in philosophical reflection. However, it has done so in such a way that, at present, as Jim Bogen states in the back…Read more
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547Laws, Models, and Theories in Biology: A Unifying InterpretationIn Lorenzo Baravalle & Luciana Zaterka (eds.), Life and Evolution, History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, . pp. 163-207. 2020.Three metascientific concepts that have been object of philosophical analysis are the concepts oflaw, model and theory. The aim ofthis article is to present the explication of these concepts, and of their relationships, made within the framework of Sneedean or Metatheoretical Structuralism (Balzer et al. 1987), and of their application to a case from the realm of biology: Population Dynamics. The analysis carried out will make it possible to support, contrary to what some philosophers of science…Read more
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400Bibliography of Structuralism IIIMetatheoria 3 (2): 01-36. 2013.In two occasions a Bibliography of Structuralism has been published in Erkenntnis (1989, 1994). Since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and the structuralist program has shown a continuous development. The aim of the present bibliography is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of An Architectonic for Science –structuralism’s main reference work– and of its recent translation into Spanish by updating the previous bibliographies with titles which have appeared since 1…Read more
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358Ejemplares, modelos y principios en la genética clásicaScientiae Studia 3 (2): 185-203. 2005.Taking as starting point Kuhn’s analysis of science textbooks and its application to Sinnott and Dunn’s (1925), it will be discussed the problem of the existence of laws in biology. In particular, it will be showed, in accordance with the proposals of Darden (1991) and Schaffner (1980, 1986, 1993), the relevance of the exemplars, diagrammatically or graphically represented, in the way in which is carried out the teaching and learning process of classical genetics, inasmuch as the information con…Read more
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283This is the introduction to the special issue of the Spanish journal Ágora-Papeles de Filosofía (31/2, 2012) devoted to new Ibero-American contributions to metatheoretical structuralism.
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226La estructura de la bioquímica metabólicaMetatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 7 49--72. 2016.The structuralist reconstruction of the metabolic biochemistry here presented is a more complete and revised version than the one presented in Donolo, Federico & Lorenzano (2006). This version, as the previous one, continues with the reconstructive task initiated by César Lorenzano (2002), but advances further on those elements which remained pendent of reconstruction: applications subsequent to the paradigmatic one, for being these “too diversified and numerous” (p. 210).In line with which is s…Read more
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192La capacidad unificadora de las teorías científicas. Una propuesta alternativa desde el estructuralismo metateórico al enfoque kitchereano de patrones explicativos.Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 34 (1): 111-131. 2019.Resumen: La capacidad unificadora de una teoría científica es un rasgo usualmente contemplado a la hora de evaluar su adecuación. Kitcher ha elucidado satisfactoriamente tal noción mediante su enfoque de los patrones explicativos. Sin embargo, su perspectiva adolece de ciertas carencias. Concretamente, sostendremos que el requisito de rigurosidad de los patrones para evaluar la capacidad unificadora debe ser repensado, pues atenta contra la heterogeneidad característica de las diferentes aplicac…Read more
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183Leyes, modelos y teorías en biologíaPerspectivas 3 (2): 55-88. 2019.Tres conceptos metacientíficos objeto de análisis filosófico son los de ley, modelo y teoría. El objetivo de este artículo es presentar la elucidación de estos conceptos, y de sus relaciones, hecha dentro del marco del Estructuralismo Metateórico o Sneediano (BALZER; MOULINES & SNEED, 1987), y de su aplicación a un caso del ámbito de la Biología: la Genética Clásica. El análisis realizado posibilitará fundamentar, en contra de lo que sostienen algunos filósofos de la ciencia en general y de la b…Read more
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179Comentarios a «Explicación teórica y compromisos ontológicos: un modelo estructuralista», de C. Ulises MoulinesEnrahonar: Quaderns de Filosofía 37 55-59. 2005.In this comment on the work by Ulises Moulines I shall not refer to the interesting analysis of the ontological commitments that depends the treatment of the so-called «data models», nor shall I debate the general metaphysical principles proposed in his approach, adopting an experimentalist, instrumentalist, anti-realistic, positivist or empirical stance. I shall focus on the last part of his article in which he elaborates on the links between Wesley Salmon's causalist approach and the structura…Read more
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154¿Son a priori los modelos explicativos de la selección natural?Metatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 8 31--42. 2017.The epistemic status of Natural Selection has intrigued to biologists and philosophers since the very beginning of the theory to our present times. One prominent contemporary example is Elliott Sober, who claims that Natural Selection, and some other theories in biology, and maybe in economics, are peculiar in including explanatory models/conditionals that are a priori in a sense in which explanatory models/conditionals in Classical Mechanics and most other standard theories are not. In this pa…Read more
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147PrefacioMetatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 5 1--4. 2015.Preface to the thematic volume Metatheoretical Structuralism: Some Recent Developments and Applications
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143Bibliography of Structuralism IIIMetatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 3 1--36. 2013.In two occasions a Bibliography of Structuralism has been published in Erkenntnis (1989, 1994). Since then a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and the structuralist program has shown a continuous development. The aim of the present bibliography is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of An Architectonic for Science –structuralism’s main reference work– and of its recent translation into Spanish by updating the previous bibliographies with titles which have appeared since 1…Read more
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143PrefacioMetatheoria – Revista de Filosofía E Historia de la Ciencia 6 1--2. 2016.Preface to the Thematic Volume: Models and Theories in Biology.
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137El camino desde Kuhn: la inconmensurabilidad hoy (edited book)Biblioteca Nueva. 2012.This is a collective work of philosophy of science on a topic, even though it could already be considered a classic, of great academic actuality in the field: change and incommensurability in science. The contributors are researchers from Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.
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109The semantic conception and the structuralist view of theories: A critique of Suppe’s criticismsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 44 (4): 600-607. 2013.Different conceptions of scientific theories, such as the state spaces approach of Bas van Fraassen, the phase spaces approach of Frederick Suppe, the set-theoretical approach of Patrick Suppes, and the structuralist view of Joseph Sneed et al. are usually put together into one big family. In addition, the definite article is normally used, and thus we speak of the semantic conception of theories and of its different approaches . However, in The Semantic Conception of Theories and Scientific Rea…Read more
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102Bas Van Fraassen y la Ley de Hardy-Weinberg: una discusión y desarrolo de su diagnósticoPrincipia: An International Journal of Epistemology 12 (2): 121-154. 2008.The aim of this article is to discuss and develop the diagnose of the Hardy-Weinberg law made by van Fraassen (1987, p. 110), according to which: 1) that law cannot be considered a law used as an axiom for the classical population genetics as a whole, since it is an equilibrium-law that holds only under certain special conditions; 2) it just determines a subclass of models; 3) its generalization shades off into logical vacuity; and 4) more complex variants of the law can be deduced for more real…Read more
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97Inconmensurabilidad teórica y comparabilidad empírica: el caso de la genética clásicaAnálisis Filosófico 28 (2): 239-279. 2008.En esta trabajo se analiza la relación existente entre las propuestas de Mendel, de los "redescubridores" -de Vries, Correns y Tschermak-, de Bateson y colaboradores y de Morgan y discípulos, e.e. la historia de la genética "clásica", en términos de "inconmensurabilidad", de forma tal de capturar y precisar tanto la idea de que entre éstas se dan ciertas discontinuidades y rupturas como de que éstas tienen "algo" que ver de algún modo entre sí. En particular, se introducen, con ayuda del marco c…Read more
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90Fundamental laws and laws of biologyIn Gerhard Ernst & Karl-Georg Niebergall (eds.), Philosophie der Wissenschaft – Wissenschaft der Philosophie. Festschrift für C.Ulises Moulines zum 60. Geburstag, Mentis. pp. 129-155. 2006.In this paper, I discuss the problem of scientific laws in general and laws of biology in particular. After reviewing the debate around the existence of laws in biology, I examine the subject in the light of the structuralist notion of a fundamental law and argue for the law of matching as the fundamental law of genetics.
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89The logical structure of classical geneticsJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 31 (2): 243-266. 2000.We present a reconstruction of so-called classical, formal or Mendelian genetics using a notation which we believe is more legible than that of earlier accounts, and lends itself easily to computer implementation, for instance in PROLOG. By drawing from, and emending, earlier work of Balzer and Dawe (1986,1997), the present account presents the three most important lines of development of classical genetics: the so-called Mendel's laws, linkage genetics and gene mapping, in the form of a theory-…Read more
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88Who Got What Wrong? Fodor and Piattelli on Darwin: Guiding Principles and Explanatory Models in Natural SelectionErkenntnis 78 (5): 1143-1175. 2013.The purpose of this paper is to defend, contra Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini (F&PP), that the theory of natural selection (NS) is a perfectly bona fide empirical unified explanatory theory. F&PP claim there is nothing non-truistic, counterfactual-supporting, of an “adaptive” character and common to different explanations of trait evolution. In his debate with Fodor, and in other works, Sober defends NS but claims that, compared with classical mechanics (CM) and other standard theories, NS is pec…Read more
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76Are natural selection explanatory models a priori?Biology and Philosophy 30 (6): 787-809. 2015.The epistemic status of Natural Selection has seemed intriguing to biologists and philosophers since the very beginning of the theory to our present times. One prominent contemporary example is Elliott Sober, who claims that NS, and some other theories in biology, and maybe in economics, are peculiar in including explanatory models/conditionals that are a priori in a sense in which explanatory models/conditionals in Classical Mechanics and most other standard theories are not. Sober’s argument f…Read more
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69La teorización filosófica sobre la ciencia en el siglo xx (y lo que va del xxi)Discusiones Filosóficas 12 (19). 2011.Scientific activity produces results of various types. In particular, science produces a special kind of knowledge or knowledges, assumed to be different from knowledge or common sense knowledge, from everyday experience and formulated in ordinary language; a more systematized knowledge, with greater range and accuracy, and intersubjectively controllable. To produce this kind of knowledge (or knowledge), we introduce new concepts, formulate hypotheses and laws and, ultimately, construct t…Read more
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58What is the Status of the Hardy-Weinberg Law within Population Genetics?Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook 17 159-172. 2014.The aim of this paper is to further develop van Fraassen’s diagnosis, expanding a previous analysis of the fundamental law of classical genetics and the status of the so-called ‘Mendel’s laws’.6 According to this diagnosis the Hardy-Weinberg law: 1) cannot be considered as axiom (or fundamental law) for classical population genetics, since it is a law that describes an equilibrium that 2) holds only under certain special conditions, and 3) only determines a subclass of models, 4) whose generaliz…Read more
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55La filosofía de la ciencia y el lenguaje: relaciones cambiantes, alcances y límitesArbor 187 (747): 69-80. 2011.This paper consists of three sections. In the first one, some of the main developments in the philosophy of science through the xx century up to the present will be pointed out, and inserted them in the frame of some more general philosophical transformations, such as the so-called “linguistic turn” and “pragmatic turn”, respectively. In the second one, the established connection will be nuanced, from a revision of the work of a “classical” author such as Carnap. Finally, it will be intended a k…Read more
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51Reconstrucción estructuralista de la teoría del movimiento circular de la sangre, de William HarveyScientiae Studia 10 (2): 219-241. 2012.En las investigaciones sobre fisiología cardiovascular desarrolladas por William Harvey es posible distinguir entre dos teorías que responden a preguntas diferentes. La primera de ellas, que denominamos teoría del movimiento circular de la sangre, intenta dar una respuesta al problema sobre la cantidad de sangre que se mueve dentro del sistema. La segunda pretende dar cuenta de las causas de que la sangre se mueva y la denominamos teoría de las causas del movimiento de la sangre. En este trabajo…Read more
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50Meta-Theoretical Contributions to the Constitution of a Model-Based Didactics of ScienceScience & Education 25 (7-8): 747-773. 2016.There is nowadays consensus in the community of didactics of science regarding the need to include the philosophy of science in didactical research, science teacher education, curriculum design, and the practice of science education in all educational levels. Some authors have identified an ever-increasing use of the concept of ‘theoretical model’, stemming from the so-called semantic view of scientific theories. However, it can be recognised that, in didactics of science, there are over-simplif…Read more
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48Sobre las Leyes en la BiologiaEpisteme 3 (7): 261-272. 1998.The aim of the present communication is to contribute to the discussion about the existence of laws in biology. In order of it the argumentation of J.J.C. Smart against their existence and the discussion of it made by M. Ruse and R. Munson are first reconstructed. The examination of this controversy shows that, despite of the differences between the first of the authors mentioned and the other two in relation to the problem of laws in biology, the three share the assumption according to which in…Read more
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44Base empírica global de contrastación, base empírica local de contrastación y aserción empírica de una teoríaAgora 31 (2): 71-107. 2012.The aim of this article is to contribute to the discussion about the so-called “empirical claim” and “empirical basis” of theory testing. First, the proposals of reconceptualization of the standard notions of partial potential model, intended application and empirical claim of a theory made by Balzer (1982, 1988, 1997a, 1997b, 2006, Balzer, Lauth & Zoubek 1993) and Gähde (1996, 2002, 2008) will be first discussed. Then, the distinction between “global” and “local empirical basis” will be introdu…Read more
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44Exemplars, models and principles in classical geneticsIn José Luis Falguera, Concha Martínez & José Miguel Sagüillo (eds.), Current Topics in Logic and Analytic Philosophy/Temas actuales de Lógica y Filosofía Analítica, University of Santiago De Compostela. pp. 89-102. 2005.Taking as starting point Kuhn’s analysis of science textbooks and its application to Sinnott and Dunn’s (1925), it will be discussed the problem of the existence of laws in biology. In particular, it will be showed, in accordance with the proposals of Darden (1991) and Schaffner (1980, 1986, 1993), the relevance of the exemplars, diagrammatically or graphically represented, in the way in which is carried out the teaching and learning process of classical genetics, inasmuch as the information con…Read more
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Universidad Nacional de QuilmesCenter of Studies In Philosophy and History of Science (CEFHIC)Professor
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CONICETCenter of Studies In Philosophy and History of Science (CEFHIC)/Universidad Nacional de QuilmesMain Researcher
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Biology |
20th Century Philosophy |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Biology |
20th Century Philosophy |
General Philosophy of Science |