In the 1970s, after exploring the precise structure of DNA, the onset of the genetic age, the intervention of mathematics and computing to support this majestic process, and the terrible evolution of our understanding of neuroscience, biology was a center of hope for everyone in the scientific world. The philosophy of science was primarily concerned with physics, but in the last 50 years the philosophy of science shifted slightly from the world of physics to the need for a philosophy that critiques and interprets the scientific method in the case of biology as a science that asks more varied questions.
What life? How did she come here? How do we distinguish the neighborhood from the non-living? Can the biological phenomenon be reduced in a range of biochemical reactions occurring in the human body? Is it only on Earth? What kind? What makes us human? Should we prohibit race research? Is it ethical to kill this huge number of rats and monkeys in order to obtain a scientific result? Can this somehow lead us to an immoral experiment on humans? Does man have the right to control nature around him? How can we face the current problems associated with population inflation and environmental pollution? All these questions, and thousands of others, fall within the scope of this emerging philosophical field.
But the problem we face in Arabic content is that the production of the philosophy of biology, on the importance of this philosophical field, is very rare, so the author of the report is interested in presenting a collection of books that are a suitable input to the philosophy of biology, so that you open the best possible door to enter it, There could be a more specialized and intensive study if I liked this interesting and very important section of the philosophy of science, and now let's start our journey.
This is biology
To know the essence of biology, perhaps in the best possible way, it must start with one of the most important books that have emerged specifically for this purpose: "This is biology, a study of what life and biology" of the most famous biologist Ernest Mayer, , This book is undoubtedly a milestone in the evolution of biological science during the last century to the moment of writing these words, because it came, at a moment when the biology had experienced a real revolution began from the science of genes and reached the rapid developments in neuroscience, That biology is different from the rest of science, both for the general reader, And specialists from other fields, or specialists in the field of biology itself.
The book begins with a special introduction, in which the author explains his relationship with this science and the latest developments in it, the ones that called for the introduction of this book, and then moves on to two very important chapters. The first one knows what life means. The history of this definition is the history of philosophy and its philosophy , Beginning from the moment when the ancients added the attribute of life to the solid (as if it were the attribute of things) to the phenomenon of Emergence, which means that life is an emergency character of the vital system, an attribute greater than the sum of its parts.
In the second chapter Meyer redefines science from the point of view of biology, but it also gives a distinctive definition of science by providing answers to a set of three important questions: What is the difference between science and religion? What is the difference between science and humanities? What is the difference between science and philosophy? Meyer is interested in clarifying the key factors that make biology a separate science from the rest of science.
Meyer then proceeds to illustrate the general aspects of this science in particular. For example, he asks in one chapter about the progress of biology, and then presents a set of questions that determine the essence of biology in the essence of the organism, and then asks about the role of evolutionary biology in shaping this science, Finally, he goes on to clarify four important topics: the first concerns the causality, the second the human position in this science, and the thorny relationship between ethics and biology, to the questions of environmental science, which are more important than others.
Philosophy of Biology - Contemporary Introduction
Meyer's book, and all that will be presented in this report, is presented to the specialist and non-specialist alike, but they are not, in total, easy books that can be started directly. It requires a set of introductions in philosophy and philosophy before entering them, These introductions do not prevent you from going into that collection of books, but it will only make your trip difficult.
Let us now turn to one of the most important books in this field for a newly-developed student, translated into Arabic, "The philosophy of biology - a contemporary entrance" by Alex Rosenberg and Daniel Mackshi. This book has several important advantages that make it an ideal proposition to begin to understand this. the field:
First, the author's simple style, aimed at the novice in this field, presents the information in a way that blends the exciting nature with the methodological approach that enables the student to proceed for a future exam, an approach that is as important to the reader.
Secondly, Rosenberg is interested in his books by providing several important and useful points for students and beginners in each chapter. He starts with a general overview, ends the chapter with a simple summary and sets out at the end of each chapter a number of important sources that can be taken as future starting points. Very important and will help you in a way you can not imagine.
Because of its extreme specificity, the study of the living phenomenon requires a different methodology of inquiry, and this entails the existence of an independent philosophy to understand, interpret and critique that methodology
Thirdly, the book is a contemporary introduction that presents you with an important introduction to the most important topics currently discussed by the philosophers of biology. This is really useful for anyone interested in this field, because direct integration in contemporary issues avoids a lot of boredom in issues that can not be felt. We will present it is an attempt to talk historically about biology, and will complement the book of Rosenberg and his companion.
In contrast to one of Alex Rosenberg's earlier books, "The Philosophy of Science: A Contemporary Introduction," which is a disaster in translation, Dr. Mena Siti Yusuf, a specialist in this field and the author of one of the authors of this report, has translated the "philosophy of biology" In which he combined his understanding of the finer details of the field and his choice of smooth words.
The book begins with a very important and simple introduction: What is the philosophy of biology? The author presents six important questions in which he will learn the role of the philosophy of biology regardless of the philosophy of science as a whole. Then the writer begins with these questions to discuss the most important issues of the philosophy of contemporary biology, beginning with Darwin and the philosophical problems associated with his theory. And then discuss the reductionism, one of the most important issues in this field, and then move on to an important talk about the genes (central dogma in biology), and finally talk about progress in biology with an important and necessary chapter on biology And their impact on the Human behavior.
Biology and philosophy of science
This book is a copy, processed, of the master's thesis of his writer, who chose to specialize in the study of philosophy of biology and then got the rank of excellence with the recommendation to publish them, so that the composition that will be presented to you writer may be, to some extent, complex and need a lot Of focus, but nevertheless distinctive, putting you directly in front of a range of important questions in this field directly as a biologist.
The book begins with an introduction that explains the role of the philosophy of biology for philosophy and science. The purpose of the introduction is to explain the main purpose of the book, and why it is included in this list, which is to monitor the differences or differences between biology and other sciences, both in the nature of experimentation, Laws, the super-role of concepts (unlike laws) in biology, and other things that make interpretive models in biological sciences different.
In six chapters, the author begins to formulate his argument. He begins with the nature of experimentation and his problems in biological sciences, with an important reference to the new experimental school. He then moves on to the philosophical problems posed by evolutionary biology and the nature of laws and their problems in biological sciences. The importance of "concept" in biological issues, the concept of theory, to the problem of reductionism and complexity in the biological world, one of the most central issues.
The importance of the book stems, as we have said, from its nature, it was basically a master's thesis writer, for this reason it brings you from the style of reading tends to specialize, but can be understood, at the beginning of each chapter gives the author an introduction to explain his argument, and then comment at the end of each chapter, He puts an end to a task in which his conclusions are drawn from those long arguments presented in the chapters, with an important set of sources at the end of the book.
Philosophy of Biology .. Brief Introduction
The first is that the author, Peter Godfrey Smith, a professor of philosophy at New York University, is one of the most famous students of philosophy, and the second is about the size of the book, only in less than 200 pages And the third is of course relative to the relative simplicity of the book, which means that it is not easy enough to go into it freely, but it is also not difficult for you, as a specialist or student biology, to prevent you from an enjoyable but exhausting journey, Suitable for philosophers and scientists alike, which puts some restrictions on He deepens it in the philosophical aspects of the biological issue and has to present a simplified presentation that a person who has studied biology can understand.
In nine chapters, the book discusses nine important and active topics in the philosophy of biology, starting with the definition of this branch of philosophy, then moving on to the specificity of laws, mechanisms, and biological models, and then of course to a chapter on philosophical discussions about evolution and natural selection, In which the philosophy of biology deals with the scientific definitions of things such as: individual, gene, genre, information, and concludes with a special and interesting talk about the very exciting relationship between biology and human behavior.
The book is somewhat specialized, more difficult than its peers, but it does not prevent the author from using the easy and clear method. Of course, some points need to be searched outside the book in the worlds of the Internet, but the author also adds, at the end of each chapter, To go into the article more sharply, so the book represents a strong starting point for those who want to professionalize this field in the future.
The story of biology .. A cultural analysis of life science
This book, presented in less than 120 pages, by Dr. Ahmed Shawki, Professor of Genetics at the Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, presents a very good opportunity to reflect on the story of biology from a cultural point of view. The author presents the main signs in the history and philosophy of this science, We look at biology, either as a separate science with a special philosophy, or as a limit to the important influences in changing our outlook as human beings to ourselves and the world around us.
The book then aims to formulate a cultural definition of biology, then in the second chapter it moves to new trends in the future of biology, biophysics, computer biology, system biology, etc., and then goes on to talk about the role of biology as a unit of the rest of science, Or chemistry and physics, to the conclusion that this "convergence" is the blade of the future in scientific progress.
If you can not easily get this book from the Egyptian Academic Library, you can find the full article in the first part of the book "Three Scientific Stories", and it will really help you to know the following two parts, the story of heredity, as one of the most important stations in the history of biology , And the story of evolution, we talked about this book in more detail in a previous report entitled "In Arabic: Five Books to Advance You".
The philosophy of biology is still relatively recent, but it has already begun its journey and has become a popular academic interest, but has seen a branch and specialization within it
The book is simple, does not sink into philosophical and historical aspects, or even any of their techniques, and is basically presented as two very long articles for beginners. So his job here, among four more distinctly specialized books, is to give you a general idea as a reader not interested in diving in areas deeper than The history and philosophy of this science, by pushing you to understand the questions posed by biology to science and philosophy, and you as a man certainly included in those issues.
It is also possible, at the same point about the history of biology, to take a look at Dennis Bojan's book, "Biology, History and Philosophy," which aims at clarifying one important idea: that the philosophy of the history of biology - like the philosophy of science in general - The book presents the history of a range of the most important topics in the history of biology, such as genetics and evolution, from a philosophical point of view. In addition, the author presents his views Of what he calls the theory Azarih evolution and the theory of its own biological knowledge.
Because of its very specificity, the study of the living phenomenon requires a different methodology of inquiry. This entails an independent philosophy to understand, interpret and critique this methodology and the resulting discoveries and their impact on the other branches of knowledge. The philosophy of biology is relatively new, but it has already begun its journey and has become a popular academic interest. Saw a branch and specialization within.