Overview
- Applies the work of structuralist, post-structuralist, and postmodern philosophers to contemporary biology
- Argues that biological research to advance agricultural development should remain focused on the whole organism
- Identifies common features in the problems facing literary formalism (such as the evolution of literature) and biology
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About this book
The book considers biology in parallel with philosophical structuralism in order to argue that notions of form in the organism are analogous to similar ideas in structuralist philosophy and literary theory. This analogy is then used to shed light on debates among biological scientists from the turn of the 19th century to the present day, including Cuvier, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Dawkins, Crick, Goodwin, Rosen and West-Eberhard. The book critiques the endorsement of genetic manipulation and bioengineering as keys to solving agricultural and environmental problems, suggesting that alternative models have been marginalized in the promotion of this discourse. Drawing from the work of philosophers including Cassirer, Saussure, Jakobson and Foucault the book ultimately argues that methods based on agroecology, supported by molecular applications (such as marker-assisted selection, MAS), can both advance agricultural development and remain focused on the whole organism.
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Keywords
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Peter McMahon studied biology at Sussex University and completed a PhD at La Trobe University. Based there and later at the University of Sydney he coordinated Australian-funded research in Indonesia on soil management, on-farm genotype selection and community development based on ‘One Health’ principles. He has published papers on cocoa pests and diseases and participatory approaches to smallholder livelihoods, and co-authored a book on sustainable approaches to cocoa production.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Structuralism and Form in Literature and Biology
Book Subtitle: Critiquing Genetic Manipulation
Authors: Peter McMahon
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47739-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-47738-6Published: 28 December 2023
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-47741-6Due: 28 January 2024
eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-47739-3Published: 27 December 2023
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXI, 239
Number of Illustrations: 11 b/w illustrations, 11 illustrations in colour
Topics: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science, Poststructuralism, Literary Theory, Continental Philosophy