Abstract
Since the Principle of Biological Relativity was formulated and developed there have been many implementations in a wide range of biological fields. The purpose of this article is to assess the status of the applications of the principle and to clarify some misunderstandings. The principle requires circular causality between levels of organization. But the forms of causality are also necessarily different. They contribute in asymmetric ways. Upward causation can be represented by the differential or similar equations describing the mechanics of lower level processes. Downward causation is then best represented as determining initial and boundary conditions. The questions tackled in this article are: (1) where and when do these boundaries exist? and (2) how do they convey the influences between levels? We show that not all boundary conditions arise from higher-level organization. It is important to distinguish those that do from those that don’t. Both forms play functional roles in organisms, particularly in their responses to novel challenges. The forms of causation also change according to the levels concerned. These principles are illustrated with specific examples.
Highlights
The principle of Biological Relativity is that, a priori, i.e., before performing the relevant experiments, there is no privileged level of causality (Noble, 2012)
While the differential equations represent the dynamics of the components of the system, the initial and boundary conditions represent the historical and contextual factors without which no specific solutions to the equations would be possible
Downward causation is the set of constraints imposed by the higher levels on the dynamics at lower levels through determining many of the initial and boundary conditions
Summary
The principle of Biological Relativity is that, a priori, i.e., before performing the relevant experiments, there is no privileged level of causality (Noble, 2012). The principle has found many applications in physiology and in other fields of biology This is not surprising since the mathematical point being made is a necessary one, regardless of whether the components are molecular (genes, proteins, and metabolites), networks (at all levels), cells, tissues, organs, or any other kind of component. Boundaries in Multilevel Physiology between levels in biological systems inherently assume the principle. It can be seen as formalizing an idea that has been inherent in physiology, at least since Claude Bernard in the 19th century (Bernard, 1878, 1984; Noble, 2008, 2013), and Walter Cannon in the 20th century (Cannon, 1932) formulated the ideas of homeostasis. Their boundaries are necessarily where much of the action occurs
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