Abstract
Biology seems to present local and transitory regularities rather than immutable laws. To account for these historically constituted regularities and to distinguish them from mathematical invariants, Montévil and Mossio (Journal of Theoretical Biology 372:179–191, 2015) have proposed to speak of constraints. In this article we analyse the causal power of these constraints in the evolution of biodiversity, i.e., their positivity, but also the modality of their action on the directions taken by evolution. We argue that to fully account for the causal power of these constraints on evolution, they must be thought of in terms of normativity. In this way, we want to highlight two characteristics of the evolutionary constraints. The first, already emphasised as reported by Gould (The structure of evolutionary theory, Harvard University Press, 2002), is that these constraints are both produced by and producing biological evolution and that this circular causation creates true novelties. The second is that this specific causality, which generates unpredictability in evolution, stems not only from the historicity of biological constraints, but also from their internalisation through the practices of living beings.
Highlights
In this article we analyse the causal power of these constraints in the evolution of biodiversity, i.e., their positivity, and the modality of their action on the directions taken by evolution
Our aim was to clarify the causal power of biological constraints on the evolution of biodiversity
We argued that this power became illuminating if thought of in terms of normativity
Summary
The evolution of biological forms and functions does not seem fully explained by the laws that make physics intelligible (Longo et al, 2012). Evolution is less a mechanical sequence based on efficient causality than a process whose entities are in perpetual change (Dupré & Nicholson, 2018; Simons, 2018) It displays a continuity of forms, and a progress: the lineages evolve in certain directions, without the space of the possible directions being predetermined. To account for biological regularities, Montévil and Mossio have proposed a theory of constraints (2015) This concept aims to explain how a certain entity can act, at a given moment, on processes. The argument of this article is that biological constraints should be thought of as norms when trying to appreciate their causal role in the evolution of the biodiversity structure It has been argued (Longo et al, 2012) that constraints in evolution are not necessitating their effects but enabling certain evolutionary directions. We wish to take up this idea by analysing more precisely the causal force of these constraints in terms of normativity, in order to give a concrete account of causation in evolution
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