Structure and Function in Biology and Metaphysics

Workshop organised by Prof. Erica Onnis, t-co.re Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies The relationship between structure and function – as well as that between structural and causal properties – is a central topic in biology and metaphysics. Biologists have long recognized that biological structures and biological functions are inextricably linked. Yet philosophical accounts have tended to privilege one dimension over the other, focusing on causal and functional features while neglecting the importance of structural ones. The structure-function relationship from both ontological and epistemological perspectives This workshop aims to bring together biologists, philosophers of science, and metaphysicians to examine the structure-function relationship from both ontological and epistemological perspectives. Among the issues to be addressed: What is the ontological status of biological structures and biological functions, and how are they related? Are structures and functions genuinely co-dependent, or is one more ontologically fundamental than the other? How should we understand the emergence of novel features in biological systems, and what does their appearance reveal about the nature of biological organization?

Speakers

Margarida Hermida (King’s College London) - Federico Boem (Cusano University Rome) - Erica Onnis (Cusano University Rome) - Michele Paolini Paoletti (University of Macerata), Complexity and External Relations.

Location

Institute for Advanced Studies - Aix-Marseille University 2 Pl. Leverrier 13004 Marseille