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"There has always existed in the world, and there will always continue to exist, some kind of metaphysics, and with it the dialectic that is natural to pure reason. It is therefore the first and most important task of philosophy to deprive metaphysics, once and for all, of its injurious influence, by attacking its errors at their very source."Immanuel Kant, CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON (1785, Second Edition: page xxxi) Introduction
This is an internet work in progress. If you have some expertise in the topics which unfold, feel free to skip ahead. But i'd prefer a close reading and, if you find any of my words or illustrations erroneous or problematic, please let me know at this address for the sake of improvement (for which you will be properly footnoted).If you are unfamiliar with metaphysics and/or metabolism, relax and enjoy the trip: the terms will be defined as we go along. Metaphysics will be considered as a science of first principles. This definition is born from the orginal considerations by Aristotle which led to the appearance of the compound term, meta + physics, about which more will be said in Chapter 1.6. For the sake of discussion, let's suppose a principle is a rule for organizing information, material, and/or behavior. Furthermore, let's consider science as a way of knowing, and consider how we know as well as what we know.
The science of physics and chemistry offers knowledge about the what of which we know. The science of cell biology (at least as a prelude to neuroscience, cognitive science, etc.) offers some knowledge about how we know, and the cellular dynamic is centered around metabolism. Metabolism will be considered as the dynamic by which a cellular organism obtains energy and material from its environment and employs what it has obtained to energize and regenerate itself sufficiently to persist. Cognition can be then be understood as an extension of the metabolic dynamic, a sensorimotive process by which the organism obtains information from its environment and employs what it has obtained to maximize its metabolic effort to persist. As we pursue this line of thought, we may see a network of signaling pathways pulsing from an organism's metabolic core, with principle organizing information, material, and activity to enhance the style of life to which its species has become accustomed.
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Since the philosopher
proposing principles and the scientist pursuing knowledge must first of
all maintain her/his self metabolically, it does not seem unreasonable
to consider metabolism when in search of first (i.e., fundamental) principles.
Loosely put, if we eat to think and think to eat, then wondering how
we utilize food for thought may help us think more fully. Meanwhile, we
need not neglect the what.
Perhaps the most wonderous result of metabolic dynamic is the evolution-- from a unicellular ancestor born of raw energy, atoms, and molecules-- of a multicellular species (homo sapiens) able to consider the nature of materiality and eventually piece together the story of how it came into being. In honor of which, we'll begin the metaphysics of metabolism with a narrow survey of the initial human quest to understand the stuff of which we are made. The survey will come to a focus in the work of Aristotle at the close of Chapter One and resume in Chapter Three with a glimpse at a few milestones along the path to our current scientific understanding of materiality. Chapter Two will offer some basic information about atoms and molecules, as well as their roles in biochemistry and molecular biology, so that we may better appreciate the scientific insights about them discussed in Chapter Three. Chapter Four will offer a description of metabolism in some detail, followed by a discussion of molecular networks, cell signaling, and cognition in Chapter Five. We'll return to a consideration of metaphysics in Chapter Six and, finally, explore a few thoughts about neural systems, consciousness, and the ultimate utility of metaphysics in Chapter Seven. As we progress through these chapters, i hope to demonstrate that (1) the cell is cognitively alert, (2) cognition is a direct outreach of metabolism, (4) intention is the reciprocal of cognition, and (4) both functions can be understood at the cellular level in terms of a few basic principles. Furthermore, (5) the multicellular organism only persists by elaborating upon the principles inherent to a single cell as each participating cell interacts with its sister cells, and (6) the organism with neural cells does likewise with further elaboration. From such considerations, we may surmise that the principles by which our neurons operate collectively to produce consciousness and thought are an extension of the same principles which enable a bacterium or an amoeba to get through its day. |
By understanding the basics, we may better comprehend what we are doing with our precious "minds", and with comprehension better organize our information and behavior as we move into the future. This is not to say that the fabric of our wonderous thoughts can be reduced to the biochemistry of a cell. Rather, it is to say that every detail we can comprehend about basic cellular principles-- and the elaboration of those principles that has occured as our own more complex cellular systems have evolved-- will augment our ability to fathom the mysterious dynamic of conscious thought.
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