Chance and Necessity

Chance And Necessity


Chance and Necessity: Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology (French: Le Hasard et la Nécessité: Essai sur la philosophie naturelle de la biologie moderne) is a 1970 book by Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod, interpreting the processes of evolution to show that life is only the result of natural processes by "pure chance". It has been described as a "manifesto of materialist biology in the most reductivist sense". The basic tenet of this book is that systems in nature with molecular biology, such as enzymatic biofeedback loops can be explained without having to invoke final causality.

Read more about Chance And Necessity:  Telenomic, Inspiration, Awards, Summary

Famous quotes containing the words chance and/or necessity:

    “Since mothers are more likely to take children to their activities—the playground, ballet or karate class, birthday parties—they get a chance to see other children in action.... Fathers usually don’t spend as much time with other people’s kids; because of this, they have a narrower view of what constitutes “normal” behavior, and therefore what should or shouldn’t require parental discipline.”
    —Ron Taffel (20th century)

    “Comes over one an absolute necessity to move. And what is more, to move in some particular direction. A double necessity then: to get on the move, and to know whither.”
    —D.H. (David Herbert)