Biophilosophy
From Biosophy_org
Biophilosophy is a branch of philosophy that assumes that all the philosophical systems are based on biological principles such as evolution, brain function, and ecological systems. As humans are biological, anything philosophical constructed by humans can not escape from the biological principles.
Generally, biophilosophers can be seen as following an empiristic tradition, favoring naturalistic and physicalistic theories over their counterparts.
Key ideas in biology such as the darwinian theory on evolution, the reduction of all life processes to biochemical reactions as well as the incorporation of psychology into a broader neuroscience are seen as means to radically change the way humans think of themselves.
Progress in these biological fields of research increasingly touches questions that traditionally belonged to philosophy such as: "What is life?" "What makes humans uniquely human?"; "What is the basis of moral thinking?"; "What are the factors we use for aesthetical judgements?"; "Where do language and logic stem from?"; "What is the material basis of consciousness?" Therefore, some philosophers hope that biology is able to provide scientifc answers to such fundamental problems of epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, anthropology and even metaphysics. Furthermore, progress in life sciences urges modern societies to rethink traditional values concerning all aspects of human life. The possibility of genetic modification of human stem cells, for example, has led to an ongoing controversy on how certain biological techniques could infringe upon ethical consensus (see Bioethics).
Philosophers using biological ideas as a basis of their work
Daniel Dennett
Mario Bunge
Gerhard Vollmer
Dan Bolser
Jong Bhak
Joseph Insana
See also
Bioethics
Philosophy of mind and Neurophilosophy *Neuroaesthetics
Evolutionary Anthropology *Evolutionary Epistemology
Evolutionary Psychology
Sociobiology
External links
Biophilosophy.org: Biophilosophy home page
Biosophy.org
Biomatics.org
Omics.org
