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Model Organisms and Behavioral Genetics: A Rejoinder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Kenneth F. Schaffner
Kenneth F. Schaffner*
Affiliation:
Medical Humanities and Department of Philosophy, George Washington University
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Abstract

In this rejoinder to the three preceding comments, I provide some additional philosophical warrant for the biomedical sciences' focus on model organisms. I then relate the inquiries on model systems to the concept of ‘deep homology’, and indicate that the issues that appear to divide my commentators and myself are in part empirical ones. I cite recent work on model organisms, and especially C. elegans that supports my views. Finally, I briefly readdress some of the issues raised by Developmental Systems Theory.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , June 1998 , pp. 276 - 288
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1998

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Footnotes

†

Send requests for reprints to the author, University Professor of Medical Humanities, 714T Gelman, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052; e-mail: medhum@gwu.edu

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