The ‘cell state’ metaphor In the 19th century, biologists came to appreciate for the first time the fundamentality of the cell to all life on Earth. One of the early pioneers of cell biology, Rudolf Virchow, realized that the discovery of the cell brought with it a new way of …
In Part 1, we saw that cooperative behaviour is rife in the world of microorganisms. The fruiting bodies of myxobacteria and social amoebas are famous, but any bacterial biofilm is held together by vast amounts of discreet cooperation—the bacteria emit all kinds of molecular ‘public goods’ to their neighbours. This …
Haldane’s quip In what circumstances might natural selection favour self-sacrifice? As legend has it, the best known answer to this question was first spoken in a London pub called the Orange Tree. One night in the 1950s, after “calculating on the back of an envelope for some minutes”, J.B.S. Haldane remarked …
‘The Science of Consciousness’ Conference – April 2-7, 2018 Loews Ventana Canyon Resort – Tucson, Arizona Call for Abstracts and Pre-Registration The Science of Consciousness (‘TSC’) is an interdisciplinary conference emphasizing broad and rigorous approaches to all aspects of the study and understanding of conscious awareness. Topical areas include neuroscience, …
What is biological altruism? We tend to think of altruism as action motivated by concern for others. Biologists, however, use the term in a different way. In biology, altruism is, roughly speaking, behaviour that has two distinctive consequences for reproduction: it reduces the chances of reproduction of the organism that performs the behaviour, …
We are very happy to have Jonathan Birch (LSE) blogging this week on The Philosophy of Social Evolution, new from Oxford University Press. To view all his posts on a single page, click here.
Applications are now open for the 2018 Summer Seminars in Neuroscience and Philosophy, which will be held from May 27 to June 9 on the campus of Duke University.
This funded two week seminar experience produces valuable research and lasting relationships. Philosophers will learn new developments in neuroscience, while neuroscientists will study contemporary philosophy. You’ll form interdisciplinary teams and design your own experiments to conduct original research. The most promising projects will receive funding for the next year.
The deadline for applications is December 1, 2017. For more information, visit https://www.ssnap.net/.
