European Journal for Philosophy of Science· 2026Q1
Biological possibility: a mechanistic account
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A new mechanistic account defines biological possibility as dependent on the existence of life-defining or life-participating mechanisms that actualize a given possibility.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Biological possibility is defined by the existence of actualizing mechanisms.
- These mechanisms either define life or participate in life processes.
- The features individuating a possibility are determined by these mechanisms.
- This account is argued to be more robust than previous philosophical accounts of biological possibility.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Current projects in synthetic biology, universal biology, and the origin-of-life study have posed a pressing issue regarding the nature of biological possibility. This essay proposes a novel account of biological possibility, which highlights the role of mechanism: X is biologically possible just in case there is a possible life-defining or life-participating mechanism that actualizes X, and such mechanisms determine the features that individuate X. This mechanistic account captures a broad scope of biological possibilities while affording sufficient constraints in delivering them, thus being superior to three previous accounts (the “Library of Mendel,” combinatorial, and law-based accounts).
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities