EVENTS

STOQ 2009 – THE STOQ INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
«BIOLOGICAL EVOLUTION. Facts and Theories»

Abstracts of the Lectures:

Dominique Lambert, University of Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium

Between Analogy and Prediction. Some Epistemological Questions Concerning the Use of Mathematics in Evolution Theory

Mathematics happens to be very useful now in many areas of biology and in particular in Evolution Theory. But this fact leads immediately to the following questions. Could mathematical theories provide us a real and deep explanation of biological phenomena and in particular of major evolution thresholds? With respect to the prediction ability does mathematics play the same role in Biology and in Physics? With these questions we are facing some important epistemological problems. Starting with a study of the notion of explanation in Biology and focusing on some particular example, such as the description of plasticity, we will show that mathematics can be "unreasonably effective" in Evolution Theory. Nevertheless we will also explain that mathematical models can trap the thought in some formal analogies and generalizations and this can lead us to inaccurate interpretations of biological phenomena and evolution in the framework of a Philosophy of Nature.