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Following Form and Function: A Philosophical Archeology of Life Science (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy)

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Stephen T. Asma's book, Following Form and Function: A Philosophical Archaeology of Life Science, could also have been titled, Everything you wanted to know about the Cuvier-Geoffroy debate but were afraid to ask. Either title might, unfortunately, suggest a difficult book, addressing either a subject too arcane to be of interest to the general reader, or an unnecessary exercise: in regard to this latter concern, one could put forth that in our "sophisticated" time the inextricable linkage of form and function is taken for granted;onsequently the debate between Cuvier (arguing for the primacy of form/function) and Geoffroy (arguing for the priority of morphology/structure) is both deeply antiquated, and long resolved.

Early in his text, Asma sets the conceptual priorities straight: the central subject of his text (p 7), the form and function debate, speaks directly to the most profound questions of epistemology and metaphysics. Citing Stephen Gould (p 170n9,188n1) Asma proposes that this central subject is of greater immediacy and goes deeper than the conceptual struggle between evolution and creationism (Huxley).

By seating this debate in its proper historical, and philosphical context, the whole Western philsophical canon (from Aristotle to Darwin and back again is the title of one of his references) falls into the ambit of Asma's deftly written book. And his explanations, although perforce not infrequently a bit detailed, are with just a little effort encouragingly apprehensible.

Asma book is particularly successful in its attempt to shed light on one of the least tractable areas (most difficult to learn about/teach) in biology and philosophy: the vexatious arena of telology. A New York Times Book Review of Edelman's Bright Air, Brillant Fire was entitled, The Chicken and the Egg Together at Last; I could also have entitled this review, The Acorn and the Oak Together at Last, because Asma's explanation of non intentional (organistic, organismic) teleology is both compelling, and the best I come across.

Notably the Cuvier/Geoffroy debate has recently sufaced in the popular scientific literature (e.g., Gould (11/85) Geoffroy and the Homeobox, NH; Gould (10/86) Archetype and Adaptation, NH, Gould (2/97) As the Worm Turns NH; Desmond (82) Archetypes and Ancestor UOC; Zimmerman (98) At The Waters Edge, fP, also texts by Kauffman, Goodwin). Gould's essays (Gould apparently mentored some of Asma's early effort)in particular provide a rather excellent acompaniment to Asma's more puristic philosphical project.

In closing, I suggest you open this book: from Asma to Aristotle to Cuvier/Geoffroy, it is a very good work indeed.

I was quite surprised to come across this work, and found that it changed my view of biology on the spot. Since the mere mention of teleology in biological company tends to produce 'bizarre behavior' this work is a positive indication that times are changing and the many philosophical issues need to be reconsidered in light of the resurfacing of developmental questions of evolution. The current monistic emphasis on adaptation and function is heuristically critiqued and the results, while still perhaps murky, powerfully address a huge void in current thinking. The author adopts what he calls a modified Kantianism, which is all well and good, but in so far as he lands in the realm of 'dialectical biology' (very briefly at the end), one wonders if the formulation is not in need of further 'debugging'. Kant's powerful formulation of a stance toward teleology,whose considerations are generally fruitless speculations Darwinists rightly find suspect, with its embrace and reserve both is at once a green light and a warning. But that is the price of doing business in such a radically different form of biological thinking. Splendid effort, whatever the results.

What's up Dr. Asma. ((fellow pupil)) If you are reading this, I was wondering if this book had a lot of pictures and illustrations. My mind wanders easily, and some how the pictures help me concentrate. ((Buddha 4 Beginners)) Last time I colored in the pictures with markers, it was fun.