A metaphysical approach to holobiont individualityHolobionts as emergent individuals

  1. Javier Suárez Díaz
  2. Triviño, Vanessa 2
  1. 1 Universitat de València
    info
    Universitat de València

    Valencia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/043nxc105

    Localización xeográfica da organización Universitat de València
  2. 2 Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
    info
    Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01v5cv687

    Localización xeográfica da organización Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
Revista:
Quaderns de filosofia

ISSN: 2341-1414

Ano de publicación: 2019

Título do exemplar: Número monográfico sobre filosofía de la biología

Volume: 6

Número: 1

Páxinas: 59-76

Tipo: Artigo

DOI: 10.7203/QFIA.6.1.14825 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso aberto editor

Outras publicacións en: Quaderns de filosofia

Obxectivos de Desenvolvemento Sustentable

Resumo

Abstract: Holobionts are symbiotic assemblages composed by a host plus its microbiome. The status of holobionts as individuals has recently been a subject of continuous controversy, which has given rise to two main positions: on the one hand, holobiont advocates argue that holobionts are biological individuals; on the other, holobiont detractors argue that they are just mere chimeras or ecological communities, but not individuals. Both parties in the dispute develop their argu-ments from the framework of the philosophy of biology, in terms of what it takes for a “conglomerate” to be considered an interesting individual from a biological point of view. However, the debates about holobiont individuality have important ontological implications that have remained vaguely explored from a metaphysical framework. The purpose of this paper is to cover that gap by presenting a meta-physical approach to holobionts individuality. Drawing upon a conception of natu-ral selection that puts the focus on the transgenerational recurrence of the traits and that supports the thesis that holobionts are units of selection, we argue that holobionts bear emergent traits and exert downward powers over the entities that compose them. In this vein, we argue, a reasonable argument can be made for conceiving holobionts as emergent biological individuals. Keywords: emergence, holobiont, symbiosis, microbiome, biological individuality, trait-recurrence.

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Fonte de datos: Dialnet