I WORKSHOP ON METAPHYSICS OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

(MoB14)

Miércoles, 10 de diciembre

Sala de Juntas, Edificio Luis Vives, planta 3

Programa

12:00-13:30 The non-being of dispositions (El no-ser de las disposiciones)

María José Encinas, University of Granada, Spain

Abstract: The purpose of this talk is mainly negative; that is, I want to argue against a realist view of dispositions or powers. By a realist view of dispositions I understand the view that there are bare dispositions. So the main idea is that bare dispositions are not real natures living in the ontological space as natural categorical properties do.

16:00-17:30 The return of potencies in evolutionary biology. Towards an ontology of possibility (La vuelta de las potencias en biología evolucionista. Hacia una ontología de la posibilidad)

Laura Nuño de la Rosa, KLI Institute, Klosterneuburg, Austria.

Abstract: My talk will address what I take to be the main ontological issue associated with the incorporation of generative principles in evolutionary theory, namely the ontological status of developmental systems as the targets of evolution. The variational properties of developmental systems (such as modularity) cannot be interpreted as individual properties which contribute to the fitness of the organisms composing a population (Wagner & Altenberg 1996). Contrary to what has been recently claimed (Merlin 2010), I will argue that if the target of evolution are not the individuals composing populations but the variational properties of developmental systems, the notion of evolutionary chance is radically contested, and an alternative ontology of possibility craves our philosophical attention.