Abstract
Much research into morphogenesis focuses on discovering mechanisms and models able to generate or describe the forms we can observe in nature. These studies all provide insights, even though they do not directly touch upon what is the focus of this article: the understanding of form. To this end a conceptual scheme based on the following ideas is proposed: understanding (in science), emerging (in reality), persisting (in reality), selection (fundamental, natural, and cultural), and the relation concerning complexity (of the biota) versus uncertainty (of the environment), in particular, the relation between form and function. This article is thus a contribution to both the epistemology and the ontology of nature and, in particular, of the living world.
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Wagensberg, J. Understanding Form. Biol Theory 3, 325–335 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1162/biot.2008.3.4.325
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/biot.2008.3.4.325