Do concepts of individuality account for individuation practices in studies of host-parasite systems? A modeling account of biological individuality.

Biological individuality Host–parasite coevolution Host–parasite interaction Individuation practices Models Pluralism

Journal

Theory in biosciences = Theorie in den Biowissenschaften

ISSN: 1611-7530

Titre abrégé: Theory Biosci

Pays: Germany

ID NLM: 9708216

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
13 Sep 2024

Historique:

received: 25 10 2022

accepted: 05 09 2024

medline: 13 9 2024

pubmed: 13 9 2024

entrez: 13 9 2024

Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

In recent discussions, the widespread conviction that scientific individuation practices are governed by theories and concepts of biological individuality has been challenged, particularly by advocates of practice-based approaches. This discussion raises questions about the relationship between individuation practices and concepts of individuality. In this paper, I discuss four studies of host-parasite systems and analyze the respective individuation practices to see whether they correspond to established concepts of biological individuality. My analysis suggests that scientists individuate biological systems on different levels of organization and that the researchers' respective emphasis on one of the levels depends on the explanandum and research context as well as epistemic aims and purposes. It thus makes sense to use different concepts of individuality to account for different individuation practices. However, not all individuation practices are represented equally well by concepts of biological individuality. To account for this observation, I propose that concepts of individuality should be understood as abstracted, idealized, or simplified models that represent only certain aspects of scientific practice. A modeling account suggests a pluralistic view of concepts of biological individuality that not only allows the coexistence of different kinds of individuality (e.g., evolutionary individuality, immunological individuality, ecological individuality) but also of normative and descriptive concepts.

Identifiants

DOI: 10.1007/s12064-024-00426-3 PMID: 39269598

pubmed: 39269598

doi: 10.1007/s12064-024-00426-3

pii: 10.1007/s12064-024-00426-3

doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

Subventions

Organisme : Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

ID : 281125614/GRK2220

Informations de copyright

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