Are Organisms Substances or Processes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21293662 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Morgan (0000-0001-9166-2621, University of Sheffield), William Henry Morgan (0000-0002-3404-4517, University of Sheffield, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 605-619 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australasian Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0004-8402 • E-ISSN: 1470-6828 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00048402.2021.1931378 |
| OpenAlex | W3176944058 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 38 |
I argue that attempts in the philosophy of biology to show that organisms are processes, rather than substances, fail. Despite what process ontologists have said, substance ontology is perfectly able to accommodate the dynamic nature of organisms, their ecological dependence, and their vague boundaries, and their criticisms are directed not at substance ontology simpliciter, but only at specific (perhaps untenable) characterisations of substances. The paper ends by considering what a processual philosophy of biology that is radically in conflict with an ontology of substances might look like
Epistemology · Ontology · Philosophy of biology · Philosophy of science · Process (computing) · Computer Science · Origins and Evolution of Life · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Plant and Biological Electrophysiology Studies
Substance
The Units of Life
Everyone Flows
Interdependence and Moral Duty
Cells and Their Organelles as a Testing Ground for Process- and Substance-Based Ontologies in Biology
Biological Individuality and the Foetus Problem
Trust the process? Hyloenergeism and biological processualism
Health as temporally extended
Humans and Their Fellow Travellers
Afterword
The Metaphysics of Pregnancy
Everything Flows
What Are We?
Sameness and Substance Renewed
Processes of LifeEssays in the Philosophy of Biology
Varieties of Living Things
Naming and Necessity
XIV—Ontological Dependence
Existence in Time
The Philosophical Writings of Descartes
Organisms≠Machines
The Possibility of Metaphysics
Four-Dimensionalism
Substance
The Possibility of Metaphysics
Process, Action, and Experience
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2.75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |