Abstract figure legend Heterarchy of control of the gastrointestinal tract. The production mechanisms (i.e. epithelial cells and muscles) are shown at the bottom in green. Above them are some of the ....

Biological Theory is devoted to theoretical advances in the fields of evolution and cognition with an emphasis on the conceptual integration afforded by ...

Introduction Dialectical thinking in biology has famously been put forward by the eponymous book of Levins and Lewontin (1985). Much of the book was dedicated to the interpenetration between organisms...

Research in medicine is increasingly calling for greater attention to the importance of the environment and the effects of climate change. In this pap…

In order to maintain themselves as systems far from equilibrium with their environment, organisms must control the operation of numerous production mechanisms. Control involves mechanisms that make or...

Laura MENATTI soutiendra son habilitation à diriger des recherches de l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne le vendredi 7 novembre 2025 à 14h dans la Salle de conférences de l’IHPST (13 rue du Four, ...

How could the first living systems learn to regulate themselves before the emergence of genes? In their new paper, Ben Shirt-Ediss, Arián Ferrero-Fernández, Daniele De Martino, Leonardo Bich, Álvaro M...

All living systems need to regulate themselves and coordinate the activities of their parts to maintain themselves under changing conditions. Historically, homeostasis is one of the central ideas that...

How and why did natural systems develop the first mechanisms of regulation? How could they turn into adaptive agents in a minimal (though deeply meaningful) biological sense? A novel simulation platform, Araudia, has been implemented to address these ...

Today, we celebrate the new publication of Principles of Biological Autonomy (1979) by MIT Press, now accompanied by a new critical apparatus by Ezequiel Di Paolo and Evan Thompson.Varela’s ideas cont...

This event will assemble the burgeoning environmental research community at Sciences Po, along with external partners. The agenda includes three panel sessions, a lunch, two keynote lectures and a clo...

The search for neural mechanisms of behaviour often relies on a synchronic, driving view of causation, where neural activity drives more neural activity, which eventually drives behaviour. The real c...

At the core of life is adaptivity, the organismal process of adjusting to ever-changing conditions. But despite its centrality, adaptivity is a surprisingly lonely concept. Its most immediate lexical ...

Laura Menatti est une chercheuse interdisciplinaire en philosophie des sciences et de la médecine, spécialisée dans la théorie et l'épistémologie du paysage et l'urbanisme. Titulaire de deux doctorats...

Rediscovering Bernard and Cannon: Restoring the Broader Vision of Homeostasis Eclipsed by the Cyberneticists

Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Biological Organization

Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Biological Organization

“Dysbiosis” is a common but vague term featured in the microbiome literature, often invoked to indicate some kind of imbalance among microbiota. There is no agreement on how to define or even characte...

<em>The Journal of Physiology</em> publishes research in all areas of physiology and pathophysiology that illustrates new physiological principles or mechanisms.

Ratio is an international analytic philosophy journal edited by University of Reading Professor David S. Oderberg.

Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - Biological Organization

Cross-posted at The Brains Blog Introduction: The Role of Functions in Biology and Philosophy Biological functions play a critical role in our understanding of living organisms and their traits. Wheth...

Abstract figure legend Bernard and Cannon advanced a broad understanding of physiological regulation which was narrowed to negative feedback by the cyberneticists. In response, critics offered a vari...

To achieve the recommendation stated in the&#160;title, we propose the following:...

In the current debate about climate change and its disruptive effects on the health of people and ecosystems, the reclamation of the ‘right to the environment’ has gained momentum, both in theoretical...

No field showcases the virtues of philosophy of biology more effectively than evolutionary science (although I recently learned from Gregory Rupik, 2024, that this observation is not necessarily a vir...