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ECOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN PHILOSOPHICAL FOCUS

PASLARU, VIOREL

Abstract Details

2007, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Philosophy.
The new mechanistic philosophy, which is comprised of conceptions of mechanism due to Glennan, Bechtel and the team of Machamer, Darden, and Craver, promises to account for a wide variety of natural mechanisms. I examine three cases of mechanistic, ecological explanation that represent three different classes of ecological situations: biodiversity mechanisms responsible for ecosystem functioning; the theory of island biogeography; and the experimental work of Gause on the Lotka-Volterra equations of population dynamics. I argue that the new mechanistic philosophy fails to characterize the componential, the causal, and the organizational aspects of ecological mechanisms that are the focus of these mechanistic explanations. In light of Woodward’s manipulability account of causation and Levins’ loop analysis, I argue that ecological mechanisms are insensitive networks of invariant causal relationships. The networks comprise organisms and causally relevant environmental factors, while organization lacks the central role it plays in the new mechanistic philosophy. Depending on the phenomenon under scrutiny, the network can comprise more or fewer components and interactions. Thinking in terms of invariant causal relationships captures both the individual-level and the population-level causal relationships. Graphs represent the insensitive networks of causal relationships at both levels. I show how my proposal characterizes the biodiversity mechanisms of ecosystem functioning, the mechanisms responsible for the species-area curves of the island biogeography, and the mechanisms that underlie the dynamics of competition and of predation.
Dr. Robert Richardson (Advisor)
240 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • PASLARU, V. (2007). ECOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN PHILOSOPHICAL FOCUS [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1195862599

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • PASLARU, VIOREL. ECOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN PHILOSOPHICAL FOCUS. 2007. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1195862599.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • PASLARU, VIOREL. "ECOLOGICAL MECHANISMS IN PHILOSOPHICAL FOCUS." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1195862599

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)