Abstract
After introducing the concept of organization, this chapter is devoted to evolution, limiting analysis to the evolutionary interpretation of organisms.
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Notes
- 1.
In order to deepen this way of conceiving “interpretation” from the philosophical point of view, see Marinucci and Crescenzi (2021). A new book about evolution and interpretation is a work in progress.
- 2.
It is worth remembering that, from the point of view of theoretical construction, it is necessary to overcome the necessity and the idea of existence of a general invariant in order to build a new theoretical biology. From the descriptive point of view, if there are many differences in considering god, organization or DNA as biological invariant, methodologically it is exactly the same because it is a matter of extremely similar theoretical structures.
- 3.
It is not trivial to remember that these are concepts and not real entities.
- 4.
- 5.
Although this concept is from Agamben (2008), it is used according to Marinucci and Crescenzi (2021). This concept is important to emphasize that the common ancestor itself is not so important, but what is relevant in it. If the loss of the kiwi’s wings is taken into account, its digestive system is an irrelevant element.
- 6.
In this sense, the concept of “origin” can be considered as the secularization of theological concept of God.
- 7.
This last word will be preferred. It is from Longo (2016).
- 8.
In order to avoid to fall into the organicistic perspective, it is important to remember that organisms are historical-empirical a priori.
- 9.
It is important to talk about “interpretation” because this binds the discourse to an immanent and contingent plan as “inter-praetium” means etymologically a negotiation, the fact of establishing the price of something between two or more people. Obviously, for each negotiation different prices are possible; similarly, in relational biology, the same elements can produce different phenotypes.
- 10.
It is necessary to express in this way because one is always within an interpretation and, therefore, it is not possible to talk about essential causes for the reconstruction of a phenotype, such as Laplace or as in organicist closure of constraints. For the same reason, the points of arising are also related to a specific perspective. Therefore, an element is essential for the interpretation of a phenotype within a context and never absolutely.
- 11.
The classic example of symmetry breaking is that of the iron-magnetic transition. Considering an iron bar and the same bar, but magnetized, it is easy to understand that its properties change. In particular, the group, constituting the properties of iron bar, differs from that of magnetized bar, even if some properties are maintained, such as rotation on the axis of magnetic field. It is very interesting that symmetries breaking does not necessarily imply the change of all properties, because this aspect allows to free intertextuality from any type of holism.
- 12.
From the strictly mathematical point of view, this set can not be considered a “group” because it does not contain its identity, but it is found outside, in the phenotype they explain. For this reason, the more generic expression was used, “set of properties” and not “group”. Nevertheless, phenotype is and remains that with respect to which a certain group of properties is organized.
- 13.
As already mentioned, similarities should not be considered as a degree of identity, but as an evidence of variation. This does not mean that common aspect remains important.
- 14.
The concept of “deformation” comes directly from the fact that relational space derives from general relativity, mutatis mutandis. Now, if a mass is inserted inside the space, curvature tensor changes and space changes too(relations among masses). In biology, the deformation of interpretive field means enabling something having effects on phenotypes. Obviously, it would be necessary to consider the differences between physical and biological relational space. This topic will be dealt with in another text.
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Marinucci, A. (2023). Ontophylogenesis, Interpretation and Symmetries. In: Theoretical Principles of Relational Biology. Human Perspectives in Health Sciences and Technology, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39374-7_7
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