Genes and the Agents of Life The Individual in the Fragile Sciences Biology [Paperback]

This book undertakes to rethink the place of the individual in the biological sciences.This book undertakes to rethink the place of the individual in the biological sciences, drawing parallels with the cognitive and social sciences. It includes highly accessible discussions of genetic encoding, species and natural kinds, and pluralism above the levels of selection, drawing on work from across the biological sciences.The book is a companion to the author's Boundaries of the Mind, also available from Cambridge, where the focus is the cognitive sciences. It will appeal to professionals and students in philosophy, biology, and the history of science.This book undertakes to rethink the place of the individual in the biological sciences, drawing parallels with the cognitive and social sciences. It includes highly accessible discussions of genetic encoding, species and natural kinds, and pluralism above the levels of selection, drawing on work from across the biological sciences.The book is a companion to the author's Boundaries of the Mind, also available from Cambridge, where the focus is the cognitive sciences. It will appeal to professionals and students in philosophy, biology, and the history of science.What are the agents of life? Central to our conception of the biological world is the idea that it contains various kinds of individuals, including genes, organisms, and species. How we conceive of these agents of life is central to our understanding of the relationship between life and mind, the place of hierarchical thinking in the biological sciences, and pluralistic views of biological agency. Genes and the Agents of Life rethinks the place of the individual in the biological sciences, drawing parallels with the cognitive and social sciences. Genes, organisms, and species are all agents of life, but how are each of these conceptualized within genetics, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, and systematics? The book includes highly accessible discussions lÓÄ