Lecturer: Kathryn Nave
Fields: Philosophy
Content
With a focus on cybernetics and the free energy principle, this course will cover how philosophers and theoretical biologists have attempted to define the unique organisational properties of living systems, the unique difficulties of identifying invariant properties that individuate an organism over time, and how to understand the nature of mathematical models in light of these challenges.
1. Session one will begin with a brief discussion of Aristotle’s philosophy of biology and his account of animal motion, which will provide context for discussion of the cybernetic account of living systems as feedback control systems.
2. Session two will cover the Free Energy Principle as a contemporary revival of the cybernetic picture and explore some of its limitations as a ‘first principle’ for living systems.
3. Session three will introduce an alternative ‘processual’ perspective on the organism and the discuss the limitations this places on our ability to formally describe the essential features of an individual living system.
Literature
- Dupré, J. A., & Nicholson, D. J. (2018). A manifesto for a processual philosophy of biology.
- Dupuy, J.-P. (2009). On the origins of cognitive science: The mechanization of the mind. MIT Press.
- Nave, K. (2025). A drive to survive: The free energy principle and the meaning of life. The MIT Press.
Lecturer
I am a Leverhulme Trust early career research fellow. My research focuses on developing a realist account of autonomy and agency, grounded in the uniquely metabolic existence of living systems, and upon critiquing the machine concept of the organism in light of this distinctive material instability.
Affiliation: The University of Edinburgh
Homepage: https://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/kate-nave