Gunnar Babcock
Biographic Data
| ID | 1204381 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gunnar Babcock |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gunnar |
| FAMILY NAME | Babcock |
| SIGNATURE | BABCOCK G |
| AFFILIATIONS | Duke University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6197-7921 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 6 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 6 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Four false dichotomies in the study of teleology
The study of teleology is challenging in many ways, but there is a particular challenge that makes matters worse, distorting the conceptual space that has set the terms of debate. And that is the tendency to think about teleology in terms of certain long‐established dichotomies. In this paper, we examine four such dichotomies prevalent in the literature on teleology, the notions that: 1) Teleological explanations are opposed to mechanistic explan…
Goal Directedness and the Field Concept
A long-standing problem in understanding goal-directed systems has been the insufficiency of mechanistic explanations to make sense of them. This article offers a solution to this problem. It begins by observing the limitations of mechanistic decompositions when it comes to understanding physical fields. We argue that introducing the field concept, as it has been developed in field theory , alongside mechanisms is able to provide an account of go…
Teleology and function in non-living nature
An externalist teleology
Are Synthetic Genomes Parts of a Genetic Lineage
Biologists are nearing the creation of the first fully synthetic eukaryotic genome. Does this mean that we still soon be able to create genomes that are parts of an existing genetic lineage? If so, it might be possible to bring back extinct species. But do genomes that are synthetically assembled, no matter how similar they are to native genomes, really belong to the genetic lineage on which they were modelled? This article will argue that they a…
Asexual organisms, identity and vertical gene transfer
An externalist teleology
Teleology and function in non-living nature
Are Synthetic Genomes Parts of a Genetic Lineage
Biologists are nearing the creation of the first fully synthetic eukaryotic genome. Does this mean that we still soon be able to create genomes that are parts of an existing genetic lineage? If so, it might be possible to bring back extinct species. But do genomes that are synthetically assembled, no matter how similar they are to native genomes, really belong to the genetic lineage on which they were modelled? This article will argue that they a…
Asexual organisms, identity and vertical gene transfer
An externalist teleology
Are Synthetic Genomes Parts of a Genetic Lineage
Biologists are nearing the creation of the first fully synthetic eukaryotic genome. Does this mean that we still soon be able to create genomes that are parts of an existing genetic lineage? If so, it might be possible to bring back extinct species. But do genomes that are synthetically assembled, no matter how similar they are to native genomes, really belong to the genetic lineage on which they were modelled? This article will argue that they a…
Teleology and function in non-living nature
Four false dichotomies in the study of teleology
The study of teleology is challenging in many ways, but there is a particular challenge that makes matters worse, distorting the conceptual space that has set the terms of debate. And that is the tendency to think about teleology in terms of certain long‐established dichotomies. In this paper, we examine four such dichotomies prevalent in the literature on teleology, the notions that: 1) Teleological explanations are opposed to mechanistic explan…
Goal Directedness and the Field Concept
A long-standing problem in understanding goal-directed systems has been the insufficiency of mechanistic explanations to make sense of them. This article offers a solution to this problem. It begins by observing the limitations of mechanistic decompositions when it comes to understanding physical fields. We argue that introducing the field concept, as it has been developed in field theory , alongside mechanisms is able to provide an account of go…
Philosophy (5 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (4 works) · Biology (3 works) · Evolutionary biology (3 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (3 works) · Teleology (3 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics (2 works) · Field (mathematics) (2 works)