Characterizations/ Definitions
Many characterizations/definitions of mechanisms in the philosophy of science/biology have been provided in the past decades. For example, one influential characterization of neuro- and molecular biological mechanisms is: mechanisms are entities and activities organized such that they are productive of regular changes from start to termination conditions (Peter Machamer, Lindley Darden, & Carl Craver 2000; 'MDC' hereafter). Other characterizations have been proposed by Stuart Glennan (1996, 2002), who articulates an interactionist account of mechanisms, and William Bechtel (1993, 2006), who emphasizes parts and operations (cf. MDC).
The MDC characterization is: mechanisms are entities and activities organized such that they are productive of changes from start conditions to termination conditions. There are three distinguishable aspects of this characterization:
- Ontic aspect
- The ontic constituency of biological mechanisms includes entities and activities. Thus, the MDC conception postulates a dualistic ontology of mechanisms, where entities are substantial components, and activities are reified components of mechanisms. This augmented ontology increases the explanatory power of the MDC conception.
- Descriptive aspect
- Most descriptions of mechanisms (as found in the scientific literature) include specifications of the entities and activities involved, as well as the start and termination conditions. This aspect is mostly limited to linear mechanisms, which have relatively unambiguous beginning and end points between which they produce their phenomenon, although it may be possible to arbitrarily select such points in cyclical mechanisms (e.g., the Krebs cycle).
- Epistemic aspect
- Mechanisms are dynamic producers of phenomena. MDC emphasize activities, which are, essentially, causes that are reified. It is because of activities that the MDC conception of mechanisms is able to capture the dynamicity of mechanisms as they bring about a phenomenon.
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