Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Genes, causation and intentionality.

Marcel Weber1

  • 1Universität Basel, Programm Wissenschaftsforschung, Missionsstrasse 21, 4003 Basel, Switzerland.

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
|August 11, 2006
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Small Mitral Valve Orifice Area in Mitral Valve Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair: The REPAIR Study.

JACC. Advances·2026
Same author

Longitudinal event-sampling dataset of football fans across five countries during the 2024 European championship.

Scientific data·2026
Same author

Impact of pre-existing CIED on mid-term mortality in patients undergoing TAVR.

Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society·2026
Same author

Autonomic modulation in functional tricuspid regurgitation: effects of transcatheter valve repair.

Heart and vessels·2026
Same author

Temporal trends in mitral edge-to-edge repair for primary mitral regurgitation.

EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Cardiology of the European Society of Cardiology·2026
Same author

Prognostic impact of iliofemoral access-site calcification volume on outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society·2026
Same journal

Plant cognition after Darwin: historical and epistemological remarks.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
Same journal

The vegetal model: Buffon's general theory of reproduction.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
Same journal

Crossing paths: historical and philosophical perspectives on cancer and diabetes classifications.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
Same journal

A computational case study of Günter Blobel's idea of protein topogenesis and its influence.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
Same journal

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis: discovery and understanding of a novel disease.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
Same journal

Narratives of contingency as historical evidence for philosophical arguments of contingency: pathway decisions in the early development of molecular genetics.

History and philosophy of the life sciences·2026
See all related articles

This study critiques intentional language in genetics, arguing that concepts like "information" or "programming" are not strictly causal. It defends the role of genes as primary evolutionary replicators without relying on such problematic descriptions.

Area of Science:

  • Philosophy of Science
  • Genetics
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Common descriptions of gene function in development and evolution often employ intentional language.
  • The use of terms like 'information,' 'programming,' or 'directing' is prevalent in genetic and evolutionary discourse.
  • Existing frameworks grapple with the metaphysical underpinnings of these causal descriptions.

Observation:

  • Intentional concepts, such as 'information' in genetics, are metaphysically inappropriate even under naturalistic accounts.
  • Descriptions involving 'programming,' 'directing,' or 'orchestrating' are not strictly causal but intentional.
  • The received view in genetics and evolutionary theory contains defensible concepts when properly understood.

Findings:

  • Metaphysical analysis reveals that intentional language in genetics is problematic and not strictly causal.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Genes are accurately described as the primary replicators in evolutionary processes.
  • The causal role of genes can be articulated without recourse to intentional or anthropomorphic terminology.

    • Implications:

    • Refining the language used in genetics and evolutionary biology enhances conceptual clarity.
    • A non-intentional, strictly causal account of gene function is achievable.
    • This work challenges the causal parity thesis by offering a nuanced perspective on gene causality.