Stuart Kauffman’s metaphysics of the adjacent possible: a critique

IF 1 4区 综合性期刊 Q3 MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES Interdisciplinary Science Reviews Pub Date : 2022-11-07 DOI:10.1080/03080188.2022.2125614
R. van der Merwe
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Stuart Kauffman has, in recent writings, developed a thought-provoking and influential argument for strong emergence. The outcome is his Theory of the Adjacent Possible (TAP). According to TAP, the biosphere constitutes a non-physical domain qualitatively distinct from the physical domain. The biosphere exhibits strongly emergent properties such as agency, meaning, value and creativity that cannot, in principle, be reduced to the physical. In this paper, I argue that TAP includes various (explicit or implicit) metaphysical commitments: commitments to (1) scientific realism, (2) downward causation and teleology, and (3) modal realism. If TAP is to hang together as the kind of robust philosophical thesis it evidently aspires to be, it needs an account – an account that is currently absent – of its metaphysical commitments. It is, however, unclear how such an account can be developed since various dilemmas present themselves when one explores how subscribers to TAP might do so.
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斯图尔特·考夫曼对相邻可能性的形而上学批判
摘要斯图尔特·考夫曼(Stuart Kauffman)在最近的著作中为强势崛起提出了一个发人深省且颇具影响力的论点。其结果是他的邻接可能理论。根据TAP的说法,生物圈是一个非物理领域,在性质上与物理领域不同。生物圈表现出强烈的涌现性质,如能动性、意义、价值和创造力,原则上不能归结为物理性质。在本文中,我认为TAP包括各种(明确或隐含的)形而上学承诺:对(1)科学现实主义的承诺,(2)向下因果关系和目的论的承诺,以及(3)模态现实主义。如果TAP要成为它显然渴望成为的那种强有力的哲学论文,它需要一个关于其形而上学承诺的解释——一个目前缺乏的解释。然而,目前尚不清楚如何开发这样一个账户,因为当人们探索TAP的订户可能会遇到各种各样的困境。
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来源期刊
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews
Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 综合性期刊-综合性期刊
CiteScore
2.30
自引率
9.10%
发文量
20
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Interdisciplinary Science Reviews is a quarterly journal that aims to explore the social, philosophical and historical interrelations of the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, medicine and technology with the social sciences, humanities and arts.
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