05.04 Mechanisms Are Processes – Beyond Networks: The Evolution of Living Systems
Channel: Johannes Jaeger
Date: 2020-05-09

Module 5 of "Beyond Networks" gets into the nitty-gritty of the course, covering network analysis and mechanistic explanations. The fourth and last lecture in the module introduces the idea that mechanisms are a type of process. We shift our attention from the composition of a mechanism to the organised activities of its components and show how we can apply this kind of dynamic mechanistic explanation to the generative processes underlying development. Along the way, I talk about Waddington's conceptual framework of "diachronic biology" and how it sets out a research programme attempting to understand developmental dynamics and developmental evolution from an explicitly processual perspective. The lecture ends with the counterintuitive claim that we need dynamical systems modelling for mechanistic explanation in development and evolution. I will examine the framework of dynamical systems in the next module, which will also provide practical examples to illustrate what exactly that means.

If you are a researcher in the fields of developmental and/or evolutionary biology, I urge you to read Waddington's 1957 classic "Strategy of the Genes." Many people talk about this book, but far too few still read it. It is short, to the point, and more relevant than ever today.

I really like the work by William Bechtel and Adele Abrahamsen on dynamic mechanistic explanation. The best place to start, is probably Bechtel's 2011 paper ("Philosophy of Science", Vol. 78: p. 533). Most relevant to the present lecture is Bechtel and Abrahamsen (2010, "Studies in the History and Philosophy of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences", Vol. 41: p. 321). 

My own work on the topic, with excellent philosopher James DiFrisco, was published last year in "Biology and Philosophy" (Vol. 34: p. 54). Not surprisingly, the paper is entitled "Beyond Networks," and looks at mechanistic explanation and process in evo-devo. A more general treatment of the topic is planned.