Reduction: A Philosophical Analysis

Sahotra Sarkar, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA

Published online: July 2003

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003460

The molecularization of biology has led to a renewed interest in the possibility of reducing biological phenomena to physical interactions.

Keywords: reduction

 Further Reading
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    book Coleman W (1971) Biology in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Hull D (1972) Philosophy of Biological Science. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
    Huston M, DeAngelis D and Post W (1988) New computer models unify ecology. BioScience 38: 682–691.
    Machamer P, Darden L and Craver CF (2000) Thinking about mechanisms. Philosophy of Science 67: 1–25.
    book Nagel E (1961) The Structure of Science. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.
    book Rosenberg A (1985) The Structure of Biological Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    book Rosenberg A (1994) Instrumental Biology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    book Sarkar S (1996) "Biological information". In: Sarkar S (ed.) The Philosophy and History of Molecular Biology: New Perspectives. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
    book Sarkar S (1998) Genetics and Reductionism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
    book Schaffner K (1993) Discovery and Explanation in Biology and Medicine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    book Shimony A (1987) "The methodology of synthesis: parts and wholes in low-energy physics". In: Kargon R and Achinstein P (eds) Kelvin's Baltimore Lectures and Modern Theoretical Physics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
    book Sober E (1984) The Nature of Selection. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
    book Wimsatt WC (1976) "Reductive explanation: a functional account". In: Cohen RS and Sonné R (eds) PSA-1974. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Reidel.
    book Wimsatt WC (1980) "Reductionist research strategies and their biases in the units of selection controversy". In: Nickles T (ed.) Scientific Discovery: Case Studies. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Reidel.

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Philosophy of the Life Sciences
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Article Title: Reduction: A Philosophical Analysis
 
How to Cite close
Sarkar, Sahotra(Jul 2003) Reduction: A Philosophical Analysis. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003460]