Reductionism in Biology

Lindley Darden, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Carl F Craver, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

Published online: September 2009

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0003356

Full Article on Wiley Online Library

Explanatory and methodological reductionism in biology emphasizes the importance of building explanations and pursuing research at ever-deeper levels of organization. Explanatory and methodological integrationism, in contrast, emphasize the importance of building explanations and pursuing research at and between multiple levels of organization in hierarchically organized mechanisms. Some of the perceived advantages of reduction are reviewed, but it is noted that reductionist tendencies are prone to biases and distortions in the description of biological systems that can be removed with the simultaneous use of integrative research strategies. Integrationism is defined in terms of the search for multilevel mechanisms. Attention to such a multilevel perspective aids in avoiding the biases and distortions that reductionist strategies are prone to produce.

Key concepts

Reductionist research strategies have advantages in biology, whereas biases that they introduce can be countered by employing integrative strategies in the search for mechanisms at multiple levels.

Keywords: reduction; reductionism; integration; levels; mechanism

References
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Further Reading
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Web Links
	ePath Adaptationist Claims – Conceptual Problems http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0003451/current/html#references
	ePath Caenorhabditis elegans as an Experimental Organism http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0000564/current/html
	ePath Philosophy of Molecular Biology http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0003448/current/html
	ePath Philosophy of Selection: Units and Levels http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0003463/current/html
	ePath Philosophy of the Life Sciences http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0003449/current/html
	ePath Reduction: A Philosophical Analysis http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/emrw/9780470015902/els/article/a0003460/current/html

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Reductionism in Biology

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