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Abstract

This paper presents an outline of the relationship between the categories of living individual, organism and life. I argue that although these categories are related with each other and often treated as the same, we should strive for their separation. The main argument for the distinction between the individual and life is of a methodological character: the definitions of life are mainly interested for astrobiologists and scientists working in the field of origin of life or artificial life, while the individual is important, among others, in standard evolutionary biology and ecology. Among the concepts of living individual various forms of evolutionary definition (individual as a unit of selection) currently dominate. The living individual understood in this way is not identical with a structurally limited and functionally integrated self-sustained entity, which is usually called “organism.” Moreover, the explanatory success of the evolutionary concept of individual, in my opinion, implies the adoption of some version of the evolutionary definition of life. In the last part of this paper I propose a process-evolutionary definition of life, which also indicates a relationship between the three aforementioned categories.

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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Chodasewicz
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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss possible connections between the categories of mind and life. Some authors argue that life and mind are closely connected or even are two sides of the same phenomenon. I analyze and examine this thesis in the light of different approaches to defining life: the metabolic approach (which stresses the importance of self-maintenance and self-making) and the evolutionary approach (which focuses on evolution by natural selection). The first way of defining life is Maturana and Varela' conception of autopoiesis, the second is Korzeniewski's cybernetic definition of life and van Hateren's modified Darwinian definition of life. Especially interesting is the possibility of connecting mind and life in the evolutionary framework. The text does not provide exact results, but rather it proposes possible modes of thinking of the relation of these two categories.

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Authors and Affiliations

Krzysztof Chodasewicz
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Abstract

Krzysztof Chodasewicz (1982–2016) died young, but his publications strongly influenced the Polish scientific community in the field of the philosophy of life when life is understood as a biological process. This topic was an almost forgotten in Poland. It was Chodasewicz who, through the articles republished in the collection presented here, gave the Polish reader a picture of the current state of reflection on this issue. The articles are not only overviews of the contemporary positions; in each article Chodasewicz presents some of his new concepts. The main advantage of the published collection is a delicate form of making people aware of the range of possible views and problems, which in the subject of the essence and origin of life usually arouses great emotions and preliminary reservations. My paper is an overview of the topics and materials collected in the book, with my comments.
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Authors and Affiliations

Andrzej Gecow
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