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Jacques Monod’s Scientific Analysis and Its Reductionistic Interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Spas Spassov
Spas Spassov*
Affiliation:
University of Montreal
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Extract

Ever since the publication of his biophilosophical ideas in the early seventies, Jacques Monod has always been criticized quite severely for his old-fashioned philosophical reductionism. These numerous critiques have created a picture of an eminent scientist whose philosophical considerations are founded on the mechanistic worldview of Cartesian metaphysics, a view which is completely unacceptable to contemporary philosophers. Today it is the usual practice to cite Monod as one of the strongest and most radical reductionists in modem biology.

Monod’s biophilosophical conception arose at a moment when vigorous discussions on reductionism followed the great successes of molecular biology. His ideas were criticized namely for their strongly reductionistic interpretation of biological knowledge, and for their mechanistic model of life which, as Monod believed, reflected the spirit of modem science.

Type
Part IX. Topics in the Philosophy of Biology
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1992 , Issue 1: Volume One: Contributed Papers 1992 , 1992 , pp. 329 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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References

Lewis, J. (ed.) (1974), Beyond Chance and Necessity. A Critical Inquiry into Professor Jacques Monod’s Chance and Necessity. New Jersey: Humanities Press.Google Scholar
Monod, J. (1970) , Le Hasard et la nécessité. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Monod, J..([1970] 1971), Chance and Necessity. Translation. Originally published as Le Hasard et la nécessité (Paris: Seuil). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Monod, J., Changeux, J.P. and Jacob, F. (1963), “Allosteric Proteins and Cellular Control Systems”, Journal of Molecular Biology 6: 306-29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed