Cover of The Dialectical Biologist

The Dialectical Biologist

by Richard Levins, Richard C. Lewontin · 1985

+ Want to read

Scientists act within a social context and from a philosophical perspective that is inherently political. Whether they realize it or not, scientists always choose sides. The Dialectical Biologist explores this political nature of scientific inquiry, advancing its argument within the framework of Marxist dialectic. These essays stress the concepts of continual change and co-determination between organism and environment, part and whole, structure and process, science and politics. Throughout, this book questions our accepted definitions and biases, showing the self-reflective nature of scientific activity within society.

Subject
sciencescienceMore like thisLess of thisphilosophyphilosophyMore like thisLess of this
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 336 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

BuyAmazonGoogle Books

BorrowOpen LibraryA library near you

MoreCompare pricesHardcover

Liked The Dialectical Biologist? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Dialectical Biologist. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life Daniel C. Dennett · 1995 Shares science, philosophy, evolution
  2. Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature John Bellamy Foster · 2000 Shares marxism, science, philosophy
  3. What Is Life?: Investigating the Nature of Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology Ed Regis · 2008 Shares science, biology, philosophy
  4. The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School & the Institute of Social Research, 1923-50 Martin Jay · 1973 Shares philosophy, marxism, nonfiction
See more recommendations →

“People who read The Dialectical Biologist tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Why We Hurt: The Natural History of Pain Frank T. Vertosick Jr. · 2000
  2. In Defense of Marxism: The Social & Political Contradictions of the Soviet Union Leon Trotsky · 1942
  3. Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital Vivek Chibber · 2013
  4. Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On The Matter Of The Mind Gerald M. Edelman · 1992

“If you want more of the same (science), start with these.”

  1. Time's Arrow and Archimedes' Point: New Directions for the Physics of Time Huw Price · 1996
  2. Science and Method Henri Poincare · 1900
  3. Until the End of Time Brian Greene, René Cuillierier, Joan Lluís Riera · 2020
  4. Man's Place in Nature Thomas Henry Huxley · 1863

“If it was the biology that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Origins of Life Freeman Dyson · 1986
  2. Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism Philip Kitcher · 1982
  3. Punctuated Equilibrium Stephen Jay Gould · 2007
  4. Science, Evolution, and Creationism National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine · 2007

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. An Intellectual History of Psychology Daniel N. Robinson · 1976
  2. Science Wars: What Scientists Know and How They Know It Steven L. Goldman · 2006
  3. A Brief History of Creation: Science and the Search for the Origin of Life Bill Mesler, H. James Cleaves · 2015
  4. Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society Bruno Latour · 1987

Report a problem