Eksaptatsioon: ühe bioloogilise mõiste semiootilise kirjelduse poole

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Käesolev doktoritöö modelleerib eksaptatsiooni kui evolutsioonilist nähtust, lähtudes C.S. Peirce’i märgi- ja tuletusteooriast. Selle teostamiseks keskendub esimene osa “Enne eksaptatsiooni: eel-adapteerumine ja Chauncey Wright” mõiste tähendusele ning toob välja selle ulatusliku ajaloolise tausta. Erilist tähelepanu pööratakse C. Wrighti vanade jõudude uue kasutuse printsiibile ning tema intellektuaalsele seosele Darwiniga. Töö teine osa “Wright ja Peirce pragmatismist ja evolutsioonist” uurib Wright’i ja Peirce’i vahelisi sarnasusi ja erinevusi, pidades silmas Darwini teooria epistemoloogilist staatust, nende erinevat lähenemist Lamarck’i teooriatele ning evolutsionismi üldistamist bioloogiast teistesse valdkondadesse. Kolmas osa “Peirce’i evolutsionism: pidevuse ja ikoonilise abduktsiooni roll” käsitleb lähemalt evolutsiooni ning süvendab Peirce’i lamarkismi interpretatsiooni, rõhutades tema füsioloogilist tuletusteooria tõlgendust. Lisaks sellele näidatakse, et taju ning sarnasus on kesksed säärase raamistiku toimimiseks. Neljas osa (“Abduktsioon ja eksaptatsioon”) kasutab mitmeid mõisteid—asendatatvus, viga, kategooriate taju—,et teostada modelleerimist: eksaptatiivsed nähtused võivad järgida tajuliselt tingitud käitumismuutusi, põhinedes sarnasustel maailma üksuste vahel, mida tõlgendatakse ikooniliselt. Viies osa (“Tehnoloogilise arengu ikooniline ja eksaptatiivne loogika”) rakendab eeltoodut tehnoloogilise arengu valdkonnale ja tõestab, et kooptsioon on peamine mehhanism, millel baseeruvad nii abduktsioon kui eksaptatsioon. Kuues osa (“Vereimemise päritolu: evolutsioonilise abduktsiooni juhtum?”) on juhtumianalüüs ning siin pakutakse välja hüpotees, et hematofaagia võis tegelikult välja kujuneda abduktsiooni ja eksaptatsiooni integratsiooni läbi. Seitsmes (“Lõpumärkused juhtumianalüüsi kohta”) ja kaheksas (“Üldised järeldused”) osa selgitavad vastavalt spetsiifilisemaid ning üldisemaid doktoritöö tulemusi.The present dissertation attempts a modeling of the evolutionary phenomenon of exaptation according to C. S. Peirce’s theory of signs and inference. To accomplish this, the first section (“Before exaptation: preadaptation and Chauncey Wright”) focuses on the meaning of the concept and reveals its vast historical background. Special attention is paid to C. Wright’s principle of new uses of old powers and his intellectual relationship with Darwin. The second section (“Wright and Peirce on pragmatism and evolution”) investigates then similarities and differences between Wright and Peirce, especially insofar the epistemological status of Darwin’s theory, their different approach to Lamarck’s account and the issue of evolutionism as a generalization from biology to other fields are concerned. The third section (“Peirce’s evolutionism: the role of continuity and iconic abduction”) further elaborates on evolution and deepens Peirce’s interpretation of Lamarckism by emphasizing his physiological translation of the theory of inference; besides, the role played by perception and similarity is considered central to the working of such framework. The fourth section (“Abduction and exaptation”) exploits several concepts — substitutability, mistake, categorical perception — to set up properly the modeling: exaptive phenomena can follow sensory-driven changes of behavior, based on similarities among world entities that are interpreted iconically. The fifth section (“The iconic and exaptive logic of technological development”) applies what previously achieved to the issue of technological development and corroborates the idea of cooption as the basic mechanism underlying both abduction and exaptation. The sixth section (“The origin of bloodsucking: a case of evolutionary abduction?”) is a case study and puts forward the hypothesis that hematophagy might actually have originated through a process integrating abduction and exaptation. The seventh (“Concluding remarks on the case study”) and eight sections (“General conclusions”) explain accordingly specific and general findings of the thesis

Sociobiology, universal Darwinism and their transcendence: An investigation of the history, philosophy and critique of Darwinian paradigms, especially gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism, and their types of reductionism towards a theory of the evolution of evolutionary processes, evolutionary freedom and ecological idealism

Based on a review of different Darwinian paradigms, particularly sociobiology, this work, both, historically and philosophically, develops a metaphysic of gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism, and then criticises and transcends these Darwinian paradigms in order to achieve a truly evolutionary theory of evolution. Part I introduces essential aspects of current sociobiology as the original challenge to this investigation. The claim of some sociobiologists that ethics should become biologized in a gene-egoistic way, is shown to be tied to certain biological views, which ethically lead to problematic results. In part II a historical investigation into sociobiology and Darwinism in general provides us, as historical epistemology', with a deeper understanding of the structure and background of these approaches. Gene-Darwinism, which presently dominates sociobiology and is linked to Dawkins' selfish gene view of evolution, is compared to Darwin's Darwinism and the evolutionary' synthesis and becomes defined more strictly. An account of the external history of Darwinism and its subparadigms shows how cultural intellectual presuppositions, like Malthusianism or the Newtonian concept of the unchangeable laws of nature, also influenced biological theory' construction. In part III universal 'process-Darwinism' is elaborated based on the historical interaction of Darwinism with non-biological subject areas. Building blocks for this are found in psychology, the theory of science and economics. Additionally, a metaphysical argument for the universality of process- Darwinism, linked to Hume's and Popper's problem of induction, is proposed. In part IV gene-Darwinism and process-Darwinism are criticised. Gene-Darwinism—despite its merits—is challenged as being one-sided in advocating 'gene-atomism', 'germ-line reductionism' and 'process-monism'. My alternative proposals develop and try to unify different criticisms often found. In respect of gene-atomism I advocate a many-level approach, opposing the necessary radical selfishness of single genes. I develop the concept of higher-level genes, propose a concept of systemic selection, which may stabilise group properties, without relying on permanent group selection and extend the applicability of a certain group selectionist model generally to small open groups. Proposals of mine linked to the critique of germ-line reductionism are: 'exformation', phenotypes as evolutionary factors and a field theoretic understanding of causa formalis (resembling Aristotelian hylemorphism). Finally the process-monism of gene-Darwinism, process-Darwinism and, if defined strictly, Darwinism in general is criticised. 1 argue that our ontology and ethics would be improved by replacing the Newtoman-Paleyian deist metaphor of an eternal and unchangeable law of nature, which lies at tire very heart of Darwinism, by a truly evolutionary understanding of evolution where new processes may gain a certain autonomy. All this results in a view that I call 'ecological idealism', which, although still very much based on Darwinism, clearly transcends a Darwinian world view

Comparison of semantic-based local search methods for multiobjective genetic programming

We report a series of experiments that use semantic-based local search within a multiobjective genetic programming (GP) framework. We compare various ways of selecting target subtrees for local search as well as different methods for performing that search; we have also made comparison with the random desired operator of Pawlak et al. using statistical hypothesis testing. We find that a standard steady state or generational GP followed by a carefully-designed single-objective GP implementing semantic-based local search produces models that are mode accurate and with statistically smaller (or equal) tree size than those generated by the corresponding baseline GP algorithms. The depth fair selection strategy of Ito et al. is found to perform best compared with other subtree selection methods in the model refinement

Music in Evolution and Evolution in Music

Music in Evolution and Evolution in Music by Steven Jan is a comprehensive account of the relationships between evolutionary theory and music. Examining the ‘evolutionary algorithm’ that drives biological and musical-cultural evolution, the book provides a distinctive commentary on how musicality and music can shed light on our understanding of Darwin’s famous theory, and vice-versa. Comprised of seven chapters, with several musical examples, figures and definitions of terms, this original and accessible book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the relationships between music and evolutionary thought. Jan guides the reader through key evolutionary ideas and the development of human musicality, before exploring cultural evolution, evolutionary ideas in musical scholarship, animal vocalisations, music generated through technology, and the nature of consciousness as an evolutionary phenomenon. A unique examination of how evolutionary thought intersects with music, Music in Evolution and Evolution in Music is essential to our understanding of how and why music arose in our species and why it is such a significant presence in our lives

Game theoretic modeling and analysis : A co-evolutionary, agent-based approach

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Simple low cost causal discovery using mutual information and domain knowledge

PhDThis thesis examines causal discovery within datasets, in particular observational datasets where normal experimental manipulation is not possible. A number of machine learning techniques are examined in relation to their use of knowledge and the insights they can provide regarding the situation under study. Their use of prior knowledge and the causal knowledge produced by the learners are examined. Current causal learning algorithms are discussed in terms of their strengths and limitations. The main contribution of the thesis is a new causal learner LUMIN that operates with a polynomial time complexity in both the number of variables and records examined. It makes no prior assumptions about the form of the relationships and is capable of making extensive use of available domain information. This learner is compared to a number of current learning algorithms and it is shown to be competitive with them

Tartu Ülikooli toimetised. Tööd semiootika alalt. 1964-1992. 0259-4668

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1331700*es

On the traces of Hephaestus : skills, technology and social participation

In the general understanding, and also in scientific practice, technology and society are viewed as two distinct entities. Related to this view is the assumption that technology and human experience are quite different and unconnected and also the idea that modernity has uprooted, de-contextualized and disembodied technical rationality. Taking a contrary approach, this study represents a theoretical exploration aimed at showing that in the domain of technological development, there are significant margins for maneuver in which to recuperate and valorize human and social action. As a work of theoretical sociology or social epistemology, this thesis approaches its subject from the theoretical background of the philosophy and sociology of technique. The historical and conventional assumptions of this theoretical background, it is argued, have been and continue to be characterized by a hegemonically defined essentialist paradigm. This paradigm has been fiercely counteracted by two opposed approaches, critical theory and pragmatism. The present work combines these approaches, usually considered mutually incompatible, for the development of a new theoretical gaze or perspective. The aim has been to engage in a theoretical research oriented to a new philosophy of praxis in order to instigate a critical and constructivist approach to technology. The main result expected of this work is the provision of a problematized and multifaceted semantic map leading to a multidimensional conceptual re-integration of skilled experience in human technical action