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"Mr. Wolkenstein's Physical Approaches to Biological Evolution,
whether or not it proves to give the ultimate truth on the matters
with which it deals, certainly deserves, by its breadth and scope
and profundity, to be considered an impor tant event in the
philosophical world." This is a quotation from an introduction
written by Bertrand Russell for Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus. I exchanged only name and subject. As for the
rest, I could continue quoting Russell, but I would rather say
something myself. As Wittgenstein did with formal logic,
Wolkenstein rectifies our views on how to approach the logic of
life from a formal theoretical basis. Many bio logists do not
believe that their subject lends itself to the scrutiny of physical
theory. They certainly admit that one can simulate biological
phenomena by models that can be expressed in a mathematical form.
However, they do not believe that biology can be given a
theoretical foundation that is defined within the general framework
of physics. Rather, they insist on a holistic approach, banning any
reduction to fundamental principles subject to physical theory."
This book originated from a series of papers which were published
in "Die Naturwissenschaften" in 1977178. Its division into three
parts is the reflection of a logic structure, which may be
abstracted in the form of three theses: A. Hypercycles are a
principle of natural selforganization allowing an inte gration and
coherent evolution of a set of functionally coupled self-rep
licative entities. B. Hypercycles are a novel class of nonlinear
reaction networks with unique properties, amenable to a unified
mathematical treatment. C. Hypercycles are able to originate in the
mutant distribution of a single Darwinian quasi-species through
stabilization of its diverging mutant genes. Once nucleated
hypercycles evolve to higher complexity by a process analogous to
gene duplication and specialization. In order to outline the
meaning of the first statement we may refer to another principle of
material selforganization, namely to Darwin's principle of natural
selection. This principle as we see it today represents the only
understood means for creating information, be it the blue print for
a complex living organism which evolved from less complex ancestral
forms, or be it a meaningful sequence of letters the selection of
which can be simulated by evolutionary model games."
Am 18. und 19.5. 1984 versammelte sich in Titisee ein kleiner,
aber, wie mir scheint, ausgewahlter Kreis von Biochemikern,
Klinikern, Medizinhistori kern, Philosophen, Soziologen, Theologen
u. a., urn zwei Tage fiber die geistigen Grundlagen der Medizin zu
referieren und zu diskutieren. AnlaB war der "runde Geburtstag"
eines Man nes, der gerade dort in rund 20 lahren Symposien fiber
sehr spezielle Themen der Grundlagenfor schung und der angewandten
Medizin ebenso wie fiber ihren Hintergrund organisiert hatte: Dr.
Hasso Schroeder, Geschaftsffihrer des Boehringer-Ingel heim-Fonds
ffir Medizinische Grundlagenforschung in Stuttgart. Der technische
Fortschritt der Medizin vollzog sich fiber ein lahrhundert in etwa
logarithmischer Dimension; heute hat er fast hyperbolischen Cha
rakter erreicht. Auch die wissenschaftlich betriebene Medizin ist
langst nicht mehr in sich geschlosse- nicht zu sprechen von den
praktischen Aufgaben des Arztes in Vorbeugung und Heilung. Von
immer we niger immer mehr zu wissen, ist zur treffenden
Kennzeichnung zunehmender Spezialisierung ge worden. Wo Aktion,
dort auch Re-Aktion! So ist es heute das Anliegen vieler
Wissenschaftler geworden, fiber die Wande des eigenen Laboratoriums
hinaus auch V das Ganze zu sehen, das Anliegen vieler Arzte, hin
ter den spezialisierten Methoden den kranken Men schen zu erkennen.
So konnte der Direktor der Na tionalbibliothek in Florenz
formulieren, daB moder ne Bildung nichts anderes sei als die
Verbindung ei nes Uberblicks uber das GroBe und Ganze mit einer
personlichen Methodik, benotigte Spezialliteratur sich moglichst
schnell zu beschaffen."
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