Philosophy and History of Biology publishes papers resulting from original research regarding philosophy and/or history of biology and its epistemic interfaces, such as history and philosophy of biology and scientific education.
Universidade de São Paulo. Associação Brasileira de Filosofia e História da Biologia. Centro Interunidades de História da Ciência.
The published manuscripts become the property of the journal Philosophy and History of Biology, and the authors accept the terms of this license and agree to assign the copyright for publication, in addition to agreeing with the publication's commitment to offering open access to all of its content. The information and concepts issued in signed papers are the sole responsibility of their authors.
Science as a contemporary myth: the philosophy of Mary Midgley
The book “The myths we live by” was published in 2004, by the British philosopher Mary Midgley (1919-2018) versing on scientific and moral philosophy. The book, a vast collection of her main articles, chapters, books and speeches, verse upon the presence of the myths in human life and the role that science occupies substituting the historical presence of religious beliefs. The present article aims to present and discuss the philosopher's thought, where she defends a scientific antireduccionist position, presents critics to the genecentric view of Richard Dawkins and pursues an integration of dualities such as mind-body and that of natural and human sciences. In Midgley's understanding, the dualistic approach that opposes objective/subjective views hinders the analysis of human phenomena. Her proposal is to reduce the conceptual separation between humans and other animals, understanding humanity as a continuum with nature. Her philosophy highlights that our ideas and interpretations of science are critical to our understanding of humanity, culture and the world that surrounds us.
Copyright (c) 2025 Filosofia e História da Biologia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Editorial do Volume 21, Número 1, da revista Filosofia e História da Biologia.
Copyright (c) 2026 Filosofia e História da Biologia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Microbiology and evolutionary theories at the National Museum: João Baptista de Lacerda (1846-1915) between Pasteur and microbial polymorphis
This article examines the role of João Baptista de Lacerda (1846–1915) in the consolidation of microbiology in Brazil, focusing on his theoretical influences, institutional contributions, and use of evolutionary concepts in studies of microorganisms. Drawing on the circulation of Pasteurian ideas in the late nineteenth century, it analyses the role of the National Museum’s Laboratory of Biology as a central site in the institutionalisation of bacteriology in the country. The article highlights Lacerda’s scientific production on human and veterinary diseases, the marked influence of Pasteur on his work, his institutional efforts to promote laboratory research, and his methodological and theoretical disputes with contemporaries, both national and international. It gives particular attention to the notion of microbial polymorphism in Lacerda’s writings, interpreted in some historiographical studies as neo-Lamarckism. An analysis of primary sources, however, suggests that Lacerda’s recurrent use of the term “evolution” primarily refers to ontogeny, linked to the life cycle of microorganisms and to environmental influences, rather than to hereditary transformations across generations.
Editorial do Volume 20, Número 2, da revista Filosofia e História da Biologia.
Kantianism and university traditions in Jakob von Uexküll's biology
This article presents some of the philosophical and scientific foundations of the Estonian biologist and philosopher Jakob von Uexküll (1864-1944). To this end, it is divided into five parts. The Introduction presents von Uexküll's main concept, the world-own (Umwelt). Section 1 presents Kant's transcendental aesthetics as Uexküll's main theoretical foundation; section 2 explains the school origins of Kantian influence on the Estonian biologist's background; section 3 emphasises a second aspect of Kantianism that influenced Uexküll's teleology; the last section argues that these philosophical and scientific foundations underpinned the theory of world-owns (Umweltenlehre), as named by von Uexküll.
The institutionalisation of scientific disciplines: the development of Darwin's adaptationist programme
Despite Charles Darwin's theoretical and empirical works on adaptation, and despite the adaptationist research program that began in the 19th century, its consolidation took place only in the 1960s. The general issue guiding this paper concerns which elements held back the consolidation of the adaptationist program and which needed to be triggered to trigger this consolidation. The hypothesis we present departs from i) the historical orientation given by Caponi (2011) and ii) the philosophical concept of scientific disciplines by Lenoi (2003), that is, that adaptationism was only consolidated when it obtained its institutionalisation as a scientific discipline.
Two monadic conceptions: the proposals of Leibniz and Béchampregarding the elementary units of life
This article aims to succinctly present two distinct conceptions of the elementary units of life: the theory of monads by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) and the theory of microzymas by Pierre Jacques Antoine Béchamp, from the 17th-18th centuries and the 19th century, respectively. Departing from the comparison of the characteristics and virtues of the two proposals, we can consider microzyma, a scientific entity proposed by Béchamp in his writings on chemistry and biology, to be an organic or biological monad
Balaenoptera musculus: the “Sophia’s whale” as scientific heritage of the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP)
This article examines the historical process of patrimonialization of the blue whale, known as “Sophia's whale”, belonging to the zoology collection of the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto (MHNC-UP), in Portugal. The text details the transformation of this zoological specimen into scientific and museological heritage. The research addresses the stages of musealization, patrimonial classification, and the importance of the skeleton for science. Additionally, it highlights the cultural relevance of the specimen, evidenced by the literary reference of the renowned Portuguese poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen. The method used in this investigation was historical and documentary analysis, encompassing information contained in books, photographs, and videos, from the whale's stranding at Praia do Paraíso in 1937 to its installation in the Gallery of Biodiversity, located in Casa Andresen, in 2014. The conclusions of this investigation show that this whale has become a symbol of MHNC-UP, representing an iconic scientific and cultural heritage for the history of Lusitanian and Porto zoology, and providing information about a fascinating chapter in the history of science and museology.
Editorial do Volume 20, Número 1, da revista Filosofia e História da Biologia.
Elements for a Bergsonian aesthetics of nature
Although there is much research on Bergsonian philosophy of art, they rarely address the possibility of a Bergsonian aesthetics of nature. However, if we consider that one of the author's most relevant works deals with the philosophy of biology and evolutionism, an aesthetics of nature emerges as a feasible and fruitful possibility. This article seeks to present elements for such an endeavour, starting with the evolutionary theory presented in Creative evolution, moving on to the presentation of the evolutionary aesthetics of nature, and reaching the possibility of a Bergsonian aesthetics of nature. Specifically, we will address the relationship between aesthetic properties of nature and aesthetic experience in the work, seeking to engage in dialogue with contemporary versions of evolutionary intuitionism and its application to the evolutionary aesthetics of nature.
Galapagos finches in biology education: historical myths and possibilities for understanding the nature of science
No other group of living creatures is as commonly associated with Charles Darwin (1809–1882) as the Galápagos finches. Popularly known as “Darwin’s finches,” it was long believed that these birds were the primary stimulus that led the naturalist to consider evolution by natural selection. This narrative, although popular especially in biology textbooks, rests on a number of historical inaccuracies. At least four closely integrated myths make up the “Darwin-Galápagos episode”: that Darwin’s conversion to the transmutation of species occurred on the Galápagos and that the iconic finches played a key role in this conversion; that Darwin discovered the relationship between beaks and the ecological environment on the different islands; that finches were the primary inspiration for Darwin’s theory of natural selection; and, finally, that the Galápagos finches were essential to Darwin's argument for evolution in On the Origin of Species (1859). In this article, we aim to discuss the different historical inaccuracies surrounding the Galápagos finches episode, as well as the potential of this historical episode for understanding explicit aspects of the nature of science in biology teaching.
More-than-human worlds to seek refuge in the Anthropocene: articulating perspectives of Ailton Krenak and Donna Haraway
The intensification of climate change and the increasingly common environmental catastrophes demand an urgent reformulation of how we interact with nature and other living beings, human or not. In this sense, this text explores the notion of "worlding" as it appears in recent works by Ailton Krenak and Donna Haraway, seeking to weave together philosophical reflections on the construction of more-than-human worlds. Based on the analysis of the concepts and propositions of these authors, this paper aims to understand how worlding is configured as a process of creating plural and interconnected realities that challenge the traditional dichotomies between nature and culture, and between the human and the non-human. To this end, the main tool used was content analysis, aimed at uncovering the meanings and ethical implications of the notions of worlding, more-than-human, and other key concepts in the studied works. In this way, it was possible to establish convergence zones between Krenak's and Haraway's thoughts on the understanding that the construction of future possibilities for life on Earth requires a strong critique of anthropocentrism and the building of alliances between human beings and other species.
Editorial do Volume 19, Número 2, da revista Filosofia e História da Biologia.
Copyright (c) 2024 Filosofia e História da Biologia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Eugenics and miscegenation in the work Intimate Aspects of Japan (1953) by Salvador de Toledo Piza Júnior
Professor and geneticist at the Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP), Salvador de Toledo Piza Júnior (1898-1988) was one of the most radical intellectuals of the Brazilian eugenics movement in the 1930s. Through his activities as a contributor and director of the journal Boletim de Eugenia (1929-1933), Piza Júnior defended extreme measures of “negative” eugenics, such as the sterilization of “degenerates”, segregation and the prohibition of interracial marriages. However, little is known about the positions defended by this geneticist after the Second World War. From this problem, based on documentary research in dialogue with specialized literature, this article aims to identify the permanence of the eugenics ideology in Piza Júnior’s work in the post-1945 context. To this end, the discussions on race and miscegenation presented in the book Intimate Aspects of Japan (1953), awarded by the Brazilian Academy of Letters, will be analyzed. It is concluded that despite having abandoned the term eugenics in his publications in the second half of the 20th century, Piza Júnior did not renounce his main thesis disseminated in the Boletim de Eugenia: the condemnation of miscegenation between whites and blacks as a racial degeneration.
Punctuated equilibrium: proposal, foundation and reception (1972-1993)
The scarcity of transitional forms in the geological record was a problem concerning 19th-century transmutation species theories. According to Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), it was perhaps the most serious objection to his proposed theory in the several Editions of The Origin of Species, departing 1859. Although Darwin and other scholars proposed explanations, this problem persisted until the 20th century in the Modern Synthesis. In the 1970s, two American palaeontologists, Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), presented the punctuated equilibrium hypothesis as an alternative to the gradualism that Darwin and the Modern Synthesis admitted. This paper aims to discuss the proposal of the punctuated equilibrium. In addition, the foundation Gould and Eldredge gave and how the scientific community reacted to it. The analysis showed that punctuated equilibrium complemented Darwin's proposal and the Modern Synthesis. Thus, criticisms such as opposition to these ideas are unjustified. The authors sought to base their hypothesis on evidence from their and other authors' investigations. The reactions to the proposal varied during the period studied (1972-1993). Still, it got more accepted among palaeontologists and met with more significant restrictions among those who dedicated themselves to genetics, mainly to population genetics.
Critical analysis and challenges of the Synthetic Theory of Evolution and its place in contemporary biology: a contribution to the debate on its expansion or new synthesis
The Synthetic Theory of Evolution, developed between 1930 and 1950 by Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900-1975), Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) & George G. Simpson (1902-1984), is based on the ideas of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) among others. Although it is a fundamental theoretical framework for explaining the evolution of living beings, its structure has been the subject of debate due to its multiple hypotheses and theoretical assumptions. Currently, criticism of this theory has intensified due to the growing volume of biological data and the emergence of new concepts. Some propose updating it to incorporate this information, but there is no consensus on how to do so. Others suggest alternative approaches, which raises the difficulty of defining which aspects to change. In summary, the structure of the Synthetic Theory of Evolution is a topic that is constantly debated and requires a deeper review to enhance its explanatory capacity in the context of scientific advances and the growing understanding of evolution. This work aims to analyze proposals for restructuring the Synthetic Theory, identify its drawbacks, and provide a synthesis of the current state of the theory.
Robert Hooke and the cell in the National Textbook Program 2021
The 2021 notice of the National Textbook Program, the first providing for integrated collections for Natural Sciences, did not bring explicit recommendations on the importance of the historical contextualisation of content, although the current educational legislation indicates it. Considering the relevance of textbooks as a reference for teachers and students, as well as the recurrence of the Robert Hooke and cell theme in academic works related to the didactic insertion of the History of Science, we present the results of the detailed analysis of the presence of this theme in the collections approved in the PNLD 2021. We observed, on the one hand, sparse mentions of historical elements, distortions, and pseudo-historical narratives and, on the other, robust historical-philosophical approaches based on recent historiography.
Prosocial behaviour, mirror neurons, and the evolutionary continuityof empathy and ethics
This paper presents the importance of ethology in improving discussions about ethics, particularly about the origins of ethics based on prosocial behaviors and animal proto-morality. Emphasis is placed on the arguments of naturalist Alexander Skutch and primatologist Frans De Waal. Moreover, the Mirror Neuron System (MNS) is presented as one of the explanatory factors of the evolutionary continuity of empathy and prosocial behavior. Along the same lines, the proposal of the negotiating man (homo negotiatus) is analyzed as a dynamic anthropological model. It concludes by pointing out the importance of ethology for ethics, emphasizing the role of MNS in empathy, and proposing that the problem of liberty and determination of ethical agents should be addressed as gradual criteria.
The invention of the biological subject and the government of life: (still) Giorgio Agamben’s reflections on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
This article problematizes Giorgio Agamben's reflections on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. By promoting biopolitical debate, it reaffirms Agamben’s argument of pandemic politicization under the paradox of in/security, observed in the governmental organization that the author termed a securitarian state. Thus, it mobilizes the concepts of the state of exception and bare life from the Italian philosopher, also drawing on Michel Foucault to explore issues related to the emergence of a bio-knowledge that underpins and serves the exercise of a biopower. Finally, it speculates on the constitution of the biological subject as a mode of securitarian subjectivation in response to Agamben’s critique of individuals’ passivity in the face of peaceful acceptance of exceptional government during the pandemic, motivating the population’s choice of biological life over other forms of life.
The Darwinian notion of environment in the perspective of Georges Canguilhem
The statements that Georges Canguilhem made concerning the novelty implied in the Darwinian notion of environment are an example of the heuristic capacity of his way of understanding the history of concepts. In fact, what Canguilhem allows us to see is that the notion of environment im-plied in the theory of natural selection is a foreign and supervening element to the double filiation, physical and anthropogeographical, of the ways of thinking about the milieu that until then guided physiological studies and Nat-ural History itself.
This paper aims at defending that there is homosexuality in non-human animals. Sexual intercourse between non-human animals of the same sex has been recorded for a long time. Many people have used this fact to defend ethical and political issues related to sexual orientation, which, in its turn, generates some debate. Especially three different arguments have been raised to reject the idea that homosexuality exists among animals: same sex behavior take place in unnatural places, they should not be considered as sexual behavior, and sexuality is inaccessible in non-human animals. In this paper, these arguments will be discussed, and, from a dispositionalist definition of homosexuality, it will be argued that in some specific cases there is homosexuality in non-human animals.
Discontinuity in the history of Taphonomy
The purpose of this paper is to elucidate factor which contributed to the temporary loss of the European tradition of Taphonomy, which was developed during the first half of the twentieth century, and its rediscovery and reinvention in North America during the Post-War. Such factors are not restricted to the intellectual content of papers and books produced by researchers but have to do also with linguistic, cultural, historical, and institutional matters, which have shaped and conditioned the reception of ideas and concepts within Paleontology during the twentieth century. These factors include the transition from a multilingual scientific culture to a monolingual one, the shift of Paleontology’s center from Europe to the United States, the ideology of researchers, among other factors.
introduction of the archetype concept in Immunology was proposed in 2019. Considering the broad and complex functions of the immune system, the collection of different cell types and cytokines, gene expression programs and cellular plasticity, the archetype concept in this area could play an organizing role for the generation of new immunological practices and theories. In this paper I analyze the concept of immune archetype, and I briefly explore the origin of the term and its meanings in some non-biological contexts and in significant biological contexts, such as morphoanatomy, neurobiology and ecology. In light of these considerations, I propose a new immune archetype, the granuloma, a complex and evolutionarily conserved cellular structure. I conclude this work by reviewing the meanings of archetype in the different contexts, comparing them with that proposed to immunological phenomena, and contributing toan understating of topics of interest to the philosophy of immunology.
Toulmin’s concept of “natural order” and its application to the teaching of biology.
Science teaching has been consolidated as an autonomous discipline, although linked to the contents of science and its history. Within this discipline, we already notice the existence of subdisciplines whose differences lie in the particular science they deal with: such is the case of the didactics of Biology. This article studies the possibility of applying the idea of “natural order”, devised by Toulmin, to a particular case of biology teaching: the teaching of theories of evolution. It allows us to distinguish, in a much more adequate way than is explained in many manuals, between Lamarckism and Darwinism. Likewise, we see that there is no change in the “natural order” when moving from classical Darwinism to the synthetic theory of evolution, whose “natural order” is concentrated in the Hardy-Weinberg law. It also allows us to see that the synthetic theory of evolution and punctuated equilibrium share the same “natural order” but not the explanation for its alteration, which makes them alternative theories. Finally, we can explore the concept of “natural order” in the context of evo-devo theory after defining the concept of “morphogenetic space”. We see that this theory and the synthetic theory of evolution do not share the same “natural order”, which makes them complementary and not alternatives.
Assimilations between society and organism: canguillhemian Notes
The objective of this article is to examine the relationship between organism and society in light of the work of Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995), specifically in the text entitled The problem of regulations in organism and society ([1955], 2005), the result of a conference carried out at Israeli Alliance and published in the book Writings on Medicine. The temptation to assimilate society to the organism and, conversely, the organism to a society, was one of the philosophical problems posed by Canguilhem ([1955], 2005). It is precisely this section that we will focus on with the aim of pointing out positive and negative developments of these Canguillhemian interdisciplinary movements, as well as fundamental differences between organism and society.
Louis Agassiz: science, photography and race in the tropics
Professor of zoology and geology, founder and director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) travelled to Brazil between 1865 and 1866 as part of the Thayer scientific mission. This mission aimed to clarify the origin of species and investigate the effects of miscegenation in Brazil. Based on the theoretical contributions of Maria Helena T. Machado (2007; 2010) and the series of photographs - composed of almost 200 images of Africans and mixed-race people produced by the Thayer Expedition to Brazil - this article shows that the defence of polygenism and the belief in racial degeneration, as well as the reluctance to accept the conception of Charles Darwin (1809-1882) on the origin of species through natural selection, were to some extent related to Agassiz's creationist conviction. However, the photographs were not released, and there was no corroboration concerning the degenerative effects of miscegenation
The Anti-Vaxx movement and scientific denialism from a Fleckian perspective
This article addresses the career, professional interests, and socio-political context in which Ludwik Fleck lived and left its contributions. Next, it focuses on the concepts of “thinking style” and “thought collective” that are part of his epistemology. The paper aims to use them and other elements of Fleck’s epistemology to understand the historical-cultural processes involved in scientific denialism concerning the vaccine. To do this, we will use some historical examples. We consider that the anti-vaccine movement consists of a group of people who predominantly belong to exoteric circles in political terms, dogmatically expressing the political interests of these groups. Protesters against the vaccine position consider themselves defenders of individual freedom, distrusting the public machine and understanding the state as a controlling and invasive entity.
Mariana Aparecida Bologna Soares de Andrade
The theory of punctuated equilibria as a resolution to the problem ofevolutionary tempo: an overview
The punctuated equilibria theory, now more than 50 years old, proposes that the origin of a species is such a rapid process that it seldom leaves evidence of transitional forms in the fossil record. It also establishes that once formed, the new species undergoes minor to no morphological change for millions of years before generating a descendant species. The cause of this evolutionary pattern is the geographic isolation of a small peripheral population, which would later replace the large ancestral population. The theory seems to solve the old problem of evolutionary tempo, namely, defining what, if any, is the rate of biological change through geological time. In approaching the situation, the theory dialogues with pre-Darwinian conceptions, such as those of J. B. Lamarck (1744-1829) and Giambattista Brochi (1772-1826), and later with those of George Gaylord Simpson (1902-1984) and John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (1892-1964).
Bats: the puzzling formation of a popular imagination that transformed prejudice into an environmental issue
The popular imagination is shaped by symbols, concepts, and memories that contribute to the formation of ideas, whether real or fictitious, within particular social groups. Often, these representations transcend real-world circumstances and become unfounded beliefs, resulting in prejudice. Among the animals most affected by the popular imagination are bats, which, despite their importance to the ecosystem, have their role obscured. A large part of the population considers them repulsive and terrifying because they are nocturnal, which associates them with the supernatural, with evil connotations. One of the most frequent associations is the relationship between bats and vampires, which dates back to the 16th century. Stories about blood-sucking animals in South and Central America produced between 1500 and 1900 may have contributed to this. On the other hand, some literary works that later turned into films reinforced this view. All of this threatens the existence of these animals. However, some films have contributed to a more positive perception of these mammals. More recently, although there are publications that present bats as transmitters of diseases, including the COVID-19 virus, there are several studies that do not corroborate this view and draw attention to the importance of preserving bats for various reasons, including ecological ones, and suggest forms of management that allow their preservation and coexistence with other animals, including humans.