Talk:Mechanism (biology)

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I changed this website to make it more comprehensive. The literature on mechanisms in the last decade has grown in size considerably. My additions are not complete (as you can see with the references) -- I will add these soon. See ya.

Hey... I wrote the new article on mechanisms, which was (previously) horrifically inaccurate. I mean -- it was way off. Anyhow, I do think that it needs to be cleaned up, but I would like you (especially Moshe Constantine Hassan Al-Silverburg) that IT IS NOT BASED ON ORIGINAL RESEARCH. The ontological/definitional (etc.) issues relating to mechanisms in the biological sciences has gained center stage, over the last decade, in the philosophy of biology. Indeed, there are a multiplicity of papers published on the subject, and its about time wikipedia created a site for them. I am extremely conversant with the literature (I am a graduate student in the philosophy of biology), and I will continue to edit this website in the near future. If it is too technical, please let me know. Otherwise, I am thinking of structuring it according to the three prominent conceptions of mechanisms: Bechtel, Glennan, and MDC. Thanks.

Hey... can someone help me make this page look good? I will be adding the following sections, in addition to the introduction and explication of the MDC account: (a) description of Glennan's "complex-systems approach," (b) description of Bechtel's view of biological mechanisms, and (c) a section of criticisms of these views. Finally, of course, I will provide a "works cited" page (e.g., the MDC paper, Glennan 1996, 2002, Bechtel 1993, 2006, and so on)

Hi, I am a student of biological mechanisms myself so I would be delighted to participate in the building of this web page. First of all, I believe that the first claim in the page "Mechanism The view that physical and chemical laws govern all natural phenomena, including the processes of life" is at least very controversial if not completely misguided. So I propose to revise the contents of the article from scratch in order to present an orderly and coherent view of the recent work on mechanisms in biology. What do you think?--Mechanismic (talk) 10:13, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I am starting to fix the problems of the article. It'll take me some time, but I'll be working on it. Cheers,--Mechanismic (talk) 21:43, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Hi, I am a graduate student in biology interested in these issues--may I request that the first order of business be to add some references pointing to the primary literature? Some names are mentioned but no specific sources, reviews, or books. Thanks!Johnbachman (talk) 03:37, 25 January 2013 (UTC) johnbachman


 * Please do add some references. I'm planning to largely re-write this article this year when I have a chance.  Philosophers of science and biologists have much to contribute on this topic, but the article as it stands doesn't do a great job of integrating the two.