生物学还原论与反还原论之争:困境、反思与超越

The Debates between Biological Reductionism and Anti-reductionism:Dilemma,Reflection and Transcendence

生物学还原论与反还原论之争自近代延续至今,其原因究竟何在?21世纪以来发生的生物学计算与信息转向是否标志着还原论的成功?抑或是代表了某种“既非还原又非整体”的“中间路线”?本文以经典文献为据,考察上述争论的历史演进,并对其理论困境作出反思,指出两派之争的根源在于双方均陷入了某种单向度的思维定式。据此,超越还原论与反还原论或许仍需一种持续深化与扩展的自然辩证策略,即主张生物界在根本上具有双重属性,是在“量—质”循环转化中,连续性与非连续性、确定性与不确定性的统一,而生物学计算与信息转向或许恰是这一哲学辨证路径的科学启示。

The debates between biological reductionism and anti-reductionism lasted from modern times to the present.Based on classical literature,this paper aims to investigate the historical development of these debates and to reflect on the theoretical dilemmas to which they give rise.I argue that both sides of these debates have been reduced to one-dimensional thinking,and that an extended natural dialectical strategy is needed if we want to overcome such debates on reductionism and anti-reductionism.Both sides claim that the biological world in its essence has“dual attributes”,referring to the unity of continuity and discontinuity,and certainty and uncertainty in the constant transformation of“quantity-quality”cycles.I argue that the computational and informational turn in biology has much to offer and may shed new light on this philosophical-dialectical path.