“如吾所造”的生命:合成生物的存在论形态探析

Life as We Made It: On the Ontological Forms of Synthetic Organism

合成生物是"如吾所造"的生命,出场的"四因"决定了其特定的存在形态。从形式因视角看,合成生物是被作为一种机器而进行的制作,结果成为了一种"活着的机器";从质料因视角看,合成生物采用的是人工制备的质料,因而是一种"异质的种类";从动力因视角看,合成生物是主体"考虑"和技术"订造"的结果,呈现为"持存的在者";从目的因视角看,合成生物的内在目的受到遮蔽,承载了人的需求和目的而成为"价值的载体"。

Synthetic organism is a kind of"life as we made it".The"four causes"provided by the producer determines how the synthetic organism presents itself.From the perspective of formal cause,synthetic organism is a"living machine"because it is made as a machine.From the perspective of material cause,synthetic organism is"heterogeneous species"because it is made of artificial matter.From the perspective of efficient cause,synthetic biology is a kind of bestand because it is the result of the"uberlegen"of subject and the"bestellen"of technology.From the perspective of final cause,synthetic organism is a"carrier of value"because it carries the needs and purposes of human beings and its intrinsic purpose is obscured.