Holism and Evolution
Author: Jan Christiaan Smuts
Publisher:
Published: 1926
Total Pages: 384
ISBN-13:
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Holism and evolution
Author: J.C. Smuts
Publisher: Рипол Классик
Published: 1926
Total Pages: 375
ISBN-13: 5871112277
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHolistic Darwinism
Author: Peter Corning
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2010-08-15
Total Pages: 555
ISBN-13: 0226116336
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn recent years, evolutionary theorists have come to recognize that the reductionist, individualist, gene-centered approach to evolution cannot sufficiently account for the emergence of complex biological systems over time. Peter A. Corning has been at the forefront of a new generation of complexity theorists who have been working to reshape the foundations of evolutionary theory. Well known for his Synergism Hypothesis—a theory of complexity in evolution that assigns a key causal role to various forms of functional synergy—Corning puts this theory into a much broader framework in Holistic Darwinism, addressing many of the issues and concepts associated with the evolution of complex systems. Corning's paradigm embraces and integrates many related theoretical developments of recent years, from multilevel selection theory to niche construction theory, gene-culture coevolution theory, and theories of self-organization. Offering new approaches to thermodynamics, information theory, and economic analysis, Corning suggests how all of these domains can be brought firmly within what he characterizes as a post–neo-Darwinian evolutionary synthesis.
Holism and Reductionism in Biology and Ecology
Author: Rick C. Looijen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 362
ISBN-13: 9401595607
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHolism and reductionism are traditionally seen as incompatible views or approaches to nature. Here Looijen argues that they should rather be seen as mutually dependent and hence co-operating research programmes. He sheds some interesting new light on the emergence thesis, its relation to the reduction thesis, and on the role and status of functional explanations in biology. He discusses several examples of reduction in both biology and ecology, showing the mutual dependence of holistic and reductionist research programmes. Ecologists are offered separate chapters, clarifying some major, yet highly and controversial ecological concepts, such as `community', `habitat', and `niche'. The book is the first in-depth study of the philosophy of ecology. Readership: Specialists in the philosophy of science, especially the philosophy of biology, biologists and ecologists interested in the philosophy of their discipline. Also of interest to other scientists concerned with the holism-reductionism issue.
Holistic Anthropology
Author: David J. Parkin
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 308
ISBN-13: 9781845453541
DOWNLOAD EBOOKGiven the broad reach of anthropology as the science of humankind, there are times when the subject fragments into specialisms and times when there is rapprochement. Rather than just seeing them as reactions to each other, it is perhaps better to say that both tendencies co-exist and that it is very much a matter of perspective as to which is dominant at any moment. The perspective adopted by the contributors to this volume is that some anthropologists have, over the last decade or so, been paying considerable attention to developments in the study of social and biological evolution and of material culture, and that this has brought social, material cultural and biological anthropologists closer to each other and closer to allied disciplines such as archaeology and psychology. A more eclectic anthropology once characteristic of an earlier age is thus re-emerging. The new holism does not result from the merging of sharply distinguished disciplines but from among anthropologists themselves who see social organization as fundamentally a problem of human ecology, and, from that, of material and mental creativity, human biology, and the co-evolution of society and culture. It is part of a wider interest beyond anthropology in the origins and rationale of human activities, claims and beliefs, and draws on inferential or speculative reasoning as well as 'hard' evidence. The book argues that, while usefully borrowing from other subjects, all such reasoning must be grounded in prolonged, intensive and linguistically-informed fieldwork and comparison.
The Evolution of the Human Head
Author: Daniel Lieberman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2011-01-03
Total Pages: 769
ISBN-13: 0674046366
DOWNLOAD EBOOKExhaustively researched and years in the making, this innovative book documents how the many components of the head function, how they evolved since we diverged from the apes, and how they interact in diverse ways both functionally and developmentally, causing them to be highly integrated. This integration not only permits the head's many units to accommodate each other as they grow and work, but also facilitates evolutionary change. Lieberman shows how, when, and why the major transformations evident in the evolution of the human head occurred. The special way the head is integrated, Lieberman argues, made it possible for a few developmental shifts to have had widespread effects on craniofacial growth, yet still permit the head to function exquisitely. --
On the Origin of Autonomy
Author: Bernd Rosslenbroich
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2014-04-15
Total Pages: 302
ISBN-13: 331904141X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis volume describes features of autonomy and integrates them into the recent discussion of factors in evolution. In recent years ideas about major transitions in evolution are undergoing a revolutionary change. They include questions about the origin of evolutionary innovation, their genetic and epigenetic background, the role of the phenotype and of changes in ontogenetic pathways. In the present book, it is argued that it is likewise necessary to question the properties of these innovations and what was qualitatively generated during the macroevolutionary transitions. The author states that a recurring central aspect of macroevolutionary innovations is an increase in individual organismal autonomy whereby it is emancipated from the environment with changes in its capacity for flexibility, self-regulation and self-control of behavior. The first chapters define the concept of autonomy and examine its history and its epistemological context. Later chapters demonstrate how changes in autonomy took place during the major evolutionary transitions and investigate the generation of organs and physiological systems. They synthesize material from various disciplines including zoology, comparative physiology, morphology, molecular biology, neurobiology and ethology. It is argued that the concept is also relevant for understanding the relation of the biological evolution of man to his cultural abilities. Finally the relation of autonomy to adaptation, niche construction, phenotypic plasticity and other factors and patterns in evolution is discussed. The text has a clear perspective from the context of systems biology, arguing that the generation of biological autonomy must be interpreted within an integrative systems approach.
The Origin and Evolution of Cultures
Author: Robert Boyd
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2005-01-20
Total Pages: 465
ISBN-13: 0195347447
DOWNLOAD EBOOKOxford presents, in one convenient and coherently organized volume, 20 influential but until now relatively inaccessible articles that form the backbone of Boyd and Richerson's path-breaking work on evolution and culture. Their interdisciplinary research is based on two notions. First, that culture is crucial for understanding human behavior; unlike other organisms, socially transmitted beliefs, attitudes, and values heavily influence our behavior. Secondly, culture is part of biology: the capacity to acquire and transmit culture is a derived component of human psychology, and the contents of culture are deeply intertwined with our biology. Culture then is a pool of information, stored in the brains of the population that gets transmitted from one brain to another by social learning processes. Therefore, culture can account for both our outstanding ecological success as well as the maladaptations that characterize much of human behavior. The interest in this collection will span anthropology, psychology, economics, philosophy, and political science.
Holism and Complementary Medicine
Author: VINCENT. DI STEFANO
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-03
Total Pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780367718350
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe return to holistic therapies is one of the most important developments in health over the past two decades. With preventative medicine being taken more seriously by conventional health practitioners, and the increasing popularity of natural and complementary therapies among consumers, it is clear that a holistic approach will be integral to health care in the future. Holism and Complementary Medicine offers a systematic overview of traditional healing practices, the development of the Western biomedical model from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to the present, and the holistic philosophy which is the basis of complementary and alternative medicine in the West. The book explores the differences between holistic and conventional biomedical traditions and approaches, acknowledging the strengths of each. It also addresses key practice issues, examining the role holistic principles have to play in today's health system and explaining their place in the therapeutic relationship. Holism and Complementary Medicine is an accessible guide for students, practitioners and anyone interested in the origins and core principles of natural therapies. 'This scholarly exploration of the conceptual evolution of holistic medicine is a fascinating read. Di Stefano is to be congratulated for his articulate insights into healing relationships and how our health paradigms enhance or inhibit our understanding of health and disease.' - Joseph Pizzorno, ND, President Emeritus, Bastyr University 'This is a magnificent read for students of natural and complementary medicine, as well as health professionals and lay public who have often wondered where the movement towards holism in medicine began and is headed.' - Paul Orrock, Head of the School of Natural and Complementary Medicine, Southern Cross University '. . . brings together many threads that link the health of body, mind and society, drawing richly from a larger corpus of intellectual inquiry into history, philosophy, and human endeavor, including clinical medicine.' - Bruce Barrett MD PhD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Holism in Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Physics
Author: M. Esfeld
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2001-06-30
Total Pages: 392
ISBN-13: 9780792370031
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe topic of this book is a comparison between holism in the philosophy and language and social holism on the one hand and holism about space-time and quantum systems on the other hand. The main claim is that holism in the humanities and holism in fundamental physics come under the same substantial, general conception of holism. That is to say: arguments to the effect that the holism of the mental is unscientific or that the mental is separated from the physical owing to holism are not sound. The holism of the mental fits into a world-view that bases itself on scientific realism. The addressees of this book are all those who care about our view of the world and ourselves in the spirit of an argumentative examination of different positions. No familiarity with physics is presupposed.
