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Building a Profile for the Biological Concept of Life

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Conceptual Profiles

Part of the book series: Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education ((CTISE,volume 42))

Abstract

This chapter reports the building of a conceptual profile of life. We took as a starting point the hypothesis that the concept of life is polysemous, showing several possible meanings and, thus, admitting a conceptual profile. We attempted to demarcate the zones that constitute this conceptual profile through a dialogic interplay between theoretical and empirical studies, involving at least three genetic domains: the sociocultural, by means of a review about the concept of life and its history; the ontogenetic, through a compilation of studies about students’ alternative conceptions about life; and the microgenetic domain, by gathering empirical data through questionnaires, answered by biology majors, and interviews based on problem situations with graduate students in the fields of ecology and genetics. Taking into account epistemological and ontological aspects, we identified three zones, representing three levels of understanding of the life concept: “internalist,” including conceptions in which life is understood as a set of inherent processes or properties of living beings; “externalist,” amounting to an understanding of life as something external to and apart from living beings, often seen as something that comes from outside or tends to a goal that is beyond the living being; and “relational,” in which life is conceived as a relationship between entities and/or systems and the definition itself is given in terms of relations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Aristotelian doctrines about psykhé or soul are very complex and were interpreted in a variety of ways, by different authors. These disputes are outside the scope of this chapter. We stick here to a particular reading, in accordance with Lear (1995).

  2. 2.

    In the case of human behavior, res cogitans was also involved, as a source of thoughts and desires. Consequently, human behavior could not be explained in a purely mechanical way.

  3. 3.

    We could expand here on several arguments for and against the “genetic program” metaphor. We should limit ourselves, however, to some general comments. Jacob and Monod seemed to be motivated to introduce this expression in order to characterize the apparent intentionality of biological development (Keller 2000). This metaphor has been strongly criticized (e.g., Sarkar 1996; Coen 1999; Oyama 1985; Keller 2000), and many authors searched for other and arguably better ways of articulating our understanding of living organisms and their developmental processes, often by abandoning the very notions of program and information but in some cases by reinterpreting them in different frameworks.

  4. 4.

    For a discussion about the possibility that this thermodynamic definition is not sufficiently specific for characterizing life, see, for instance, Korzeniewski (2001).

  5. 5.

    For more detailed discussions about Gaia and life, see, for instance, Lima-Tavares and El-Hani (2001), Nunes-Neto and El-Hani (2007).

  6. 6.

    It is worth remembering that Piaget’s study refers to the evolution of the concept of living being, not of life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Francisco Ângelo Coutinho

  2. Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia, Rua Barão do Geremoabo, s/n, Campus de Ondina, Ondina, 40170-290, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Charbel N. El-Hani

  3. Faculty of Education, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, 3840440, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Eduardo F. Mortimer

Authors
  1. Francisco Ângelo Coutinho
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  2. Charbel N. El-Hani
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  3. Eduardo F. Mortimer
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Correspondence to Francisco Ângelo Coutinho .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Eduardo F. Mortimer

  2. Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

    Charbel N. El-Hani

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Coutinho, F.Â., El-Hani, C.N., Mortimer, E.F. (2014). Building a Profile for the Biological Concept of Life. In: Mortimer, E., El-Hani, C. (eds) Conceptual Profiles. Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9246-5_5

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