1.1 Organisms as Hierarchically Organized Living Systems

The ultimate goal of my project is to explain how humans evolved a specifi

c kind of vision-related, conscious, creative problem solving ability

I call scenario visualization. However, since conscious creative problem

solving is a psycho-physiological phenomenon that is dependent upon the

workings of the brain and nervous system in the human organism, it is

important for me to give a general philosophical account of organisms and

use this account to explain facts regarding the functioning of the organism’s

systems and processes. I do this in order to offer a philosophy of

biology that is comprehensive enough to account for the levels of biological

phenomena that are relevant to my project. The further upshot is to

lay the groundwork for showing that there is an analogous continuity of

function in the biological world, ranging from the activities of organelles

in a cell to the complex workings of neural networks in a brain from which

conscious abilities emerge (also see Arp, 2005b, 2008a).

In general, biologists and other researchers who describe biological

phenomena are aligned with Mayr (1996, p. 103) in his description of

organisms as “hierarchically organized systems, operating on the basis of

historically acquired programs of information” (Audesirk, Audesirk, &

Beyers, 2002; Gould, 2002; Collier & Hooker, 1999; Eldredge, 1993, 1995;

Bogdan, 1994; Lycan, 1995; Csányi, 1996; Zylstra, 1992; Terzis & Arp,

2008). What exactly is entailed in this description? There are numerous

thinkers who describe organisms and their activities in various ways. In

the next two chapters, I unify several of these conceptions while pointing

to key characteristics of organisms that are relevant to my project as

a whole. In this chapter, I further elucidate the idea that organisms are

hierarchically organized living systems. In the next chapter, after using

ideas and arguments from this chapter in support of certain forms of metaphysical and epistemological forms of emergence, I give further elucidation

to Mayr’s notion that organisms operate on the basis of historically

acquired programs of information, as well as ratify Plotkin’s claim that

biological phenomena only make complete sense in light of evolutionary

theory, by endorsing a hybrid view of functions based in both the Cummins

organizational and the Griffi ths/Godfrey-Smith modern history accounts.

According to Mayr (1996), an organism is a hierarchically organized

living system. What exactly does this mean? We can defi ne an organism as

a hierarchically organized living system made up of components that are

engaged in processes constituting coordinated subsystems, with the product

of these processes and subsystems being homeostasis relative to their operations,

producing the overall homeostasis of the organism. As a system, an

organism is a unifi ed entity that is explainable in terms of the properties

of its components, the interactions of these components, and the overall

coordination of these components. As a living system, an organism has to

be made up of at least one cell, the basic unit of life. To understand what

it means for an organism to be a hierarchically organized living system, we

need to investigate the properties of the components of this kind of system.

These properties include what I call (1) internal–hierarchical data exchange,

(2) data selectivity, (3) informational integration, and (4) environmental–

organismic information exchange (also Arp, 2005b, 2008a). When I describe

each of these properties, the interactions of the components of this kind

of living system, as well as the overall coordination of these components,

will become evident.

However, before investigating the fi rst of these properties in an organism,

namely, internal–hierarchical data exchange, it is necessary to explicate

the words component and homeostasis utilized in the above defi nition

of an organism. The word component is a term that can be used analogously

to refer to either a part of a process, a part of a subsystem, or a part of a

system. In the most general of terms, an organism is a unifi ed living system

made up of subsystems. In turn, these subsystems are made up of processes,

and these processes are the activities in which the components are engaged.

The components of an organism range from the organelles performing

processes in a cell, to cells performing processes in an organ, to organs

performing processes in a subsystem, to subsystems performing processes

in the whole system itself, that is, the organism. Thus, for example, the

respiratory subsystem works with other subsystems in an organism like a

dog to maintain its life: the respiratory subsystem would be considered as

one component of the entire dog, envisioned as one whole system; the

lung would be considered as one component of the respiratory subsystem of the dog; lung cellular tissue comprising one of the lobes of its lung

would be considered as one component of the lung; and the particular

kind of cell that comprises lung tissue is made up of organelles, the basic

components of cells.

Homeostasis refers to the relatively constant or stable coordination of

functioning among the components in the organismic hierarchy, given

the interaction of these components with environmental pressures internal

to and external to the organism. I will have more to say about internal

versus external environmental pressures later in this chapter. For now,

suffi ce it to say that there are environments exerting pressures upon the

subsystems and processes internal to an organism, as well as environments

exerting pressures upon the organism as a whole that are external to it.

The components that make up an organism, as well as the organism itself,

are able to respond effectively to the ever-changing environmental pressures

by adjusting and readjusting their activities so as to continue their

respective operations with a degree of stability. When a subsystem or

process in an organism is operating with a degree of stability despite environmental

pressures—for example, when the cell wall actually performs

the activity of allowing nutrients into the cell, or when a heart actually

performs the activity of pumping blood, or when the body of an animal

actually cools itself through perspiration because its temperature has been

raised above a certain degree—it is said to be functioning properly. I will

have more to say about functions in the next chapter.

We can draw a distinction between what I will call particularized homeostasis

and generalized homeostasis. Particularized homeostasis refers to the

end product of the proper functioning of the particular processes and subsystems

in an organism being the relatively constant coordination among

the components that make up the processes and subsystems, given environmental

pressures that are internal to the organism. Generalized homeostasis

refers to the overall maintenance of the life of an organism being the

result of the proper functioning of the processes and subsystems, given

environmental pressures that are external to the organism. The overall

homeostasis of the living system is maintained because homeostasis is

maintained at the levels of the subsystems and processes.

If the various processes and subsystems of an organism are functioning

properly in their internal environments—thereby producing particularized

homeostasis—the organism is able to live its life effectively in some

external environment. This proper functioning that yields internal homeostasis

takes place at levels in the hierarchy of the organism ranging from

the coordinated activities of organelles in the cell, to cells performing coordinated processes in an organ, to organs performing coordinated processes

in a subsystem, to subsystems performing coordinated activities in

an organism. Thus, in reference to our example of the dog: the dog is able

to live its life in some external environment precisely because of the

overall relatively constant coordination of the subsystems in its body; in

turn, a particular subsystem, like the respiratory subsystem, functions

properly because of the relatively constant coordination of cellular processes;

and the cells themselves function properly because of the relatively

constant coordination among the various organelles.

The subsystems and processes of an organism can be understood as

functioning at various levels of operation, from lower levels to higher

levels. The determination of a subsystem as existing at a certain level

depends upon the way in which the processes of the subsystem operate

and, in turn, the way in which the subsystems operate in the organism as

a whole. Lower level processes operate in certain ways and form the basis

for higher level processes and subsystems. In turn, higher level subsystems

and processes are comprised of lower level processes and utilize the information

from these lower levels to perform their own operations. In this

sense, along with Audesirk et al. (2002), Lycan (1995), and Salthe &

Matsuno (1995), we could say that higher level subsystems are the phenomena

that literally emerge from lower level subsystems and processes.

Later in this chapter and the next, I will have more to say about emergence

as well as about higher levels exhibiting control over lower levels—in terms

of higher levels selecting and integrating information from lower levels—in

an organismic hierarchy.

The organism can be conceptualized as a hierarchical organization

whereby levels of operation, in the forms of subsystems and processes,

function interdependently with one another in this unifi ed system. A

schematization of this hierarchical system is shown in fi gure 1.1. The

organism is represented by the large partitioned triangle that contains the

smaller partitioned triangles within it; the biggest triangles within the one

large triangle represent subsystems, the smaller triangles within those subsystems

represent processes, the smallest triangles within those processes

represent components of processes, and the partitions represent levels of

operation. Some of the triangles overlap, signifying that the subsystems

are interdependently related to one another. For example, in a hierarchically

ordered system like the mammal, the nervous (sub)system is dependent

upon the respiratory and circulatory (sub)systems, primarily for a

process of oxygen transfer to the nerve cells and brain cells of the nervous

(sub)system. At the same time, the processes of the respiratory and circulaOrganisms tory (sub)systems are dependent upon the processes of the nervous

(sub)system—found, specifi cally, in the medulla of the brain—for their

activities.

The ultimate goal of my project is to explain how humans evolved a specifi

c kind of vision-related, conscious, creative problem solving ability

I call scenario visualization. However, since conscious creative problem

solving is a psycho-physiological phenomenon that is dependent upon the

workings of the brain and nervous system in the human organism, it is

important for me to give a general philosophical account of organisms and

use this account to explain facts regarding the functioning of the organism’s

systems and processes. I do this in order to offer a philosophy of

biology that is comprehensive enough to account for the levels of biological

phenomena that are relevant to my project. The further upshot is to

lay the groundwork for showing that there is an analogous continuity of

function in the biological world, ranging from the activities of organelles

in a cell to the complex workings of neural networks in a brain from which

conscious abilities emerge (also see Arp, 2005b, 2008a).

In general, biologists and other researchers who describe biological

phenomena are aligned with Mayr (1996, p. 103) in his description of

organisms as “hierarchically organized systems, operating on the basis of

historically acquired programs of information” (Audesirk, Audesirk, &

Beyers, 2002; Gould, 2002; Collier & Hooker, 1999; Eldredge, 1993, 1995;

Bogdan, 1994; Lycan, 1995; Csányi, 1996; Zylstra, 1992; Terzis & Arp,

2008). What exactly is entailed in this description? There are numerous

thinkers who describe organisms and their activities in various ways. In

the next two chapters, I unify several of these conceptions while pointing

to key characteristics of organisms that are relevant to my project as

a whole. In this chapter, I further elucidate the idea that organisms are

hierarchically organized living systems. In the next chapter, after using

ideas and arguments from this chapter in support of certain forms of metaphysical and epistemological forms of emergence, I give further elucidation

to Mayr’s notion that organisms operate on the basis of historically

acquired programs of information, as well as ratify Plotkin’s claim that

biological phenomena only make complete sense in light of evolutionary

theory, by endorsing a hybrid view of functions based in both the Cummins

organizational and the Griffi ths/Godfrey-Smith modern history accounts.

According to Mayr (1996), an organism is a hierarchically organized

living system. What exactly does this mean? We can defi ne an organism as

a hierarchically organized living system made up of components that are

engaged in processes constituting coordinated subsystems, with the product

of these processes and subsystems being homeostasis relative to their operations,

producing the overall homeostasis of the organism. As a system, an

organism is a unifi ed entity that is explainable in terms of the properties

of its components, the interactions of these components, and the overall

coordination of these components. As a living system, an organism has to

be made up of at least one cell, the basic unit of life. To understand what

it means for an organism to be a hierarchically organized living system, we

need to investigate the properties of the components of this kind of system.

These properties include what I call (1) internal–hierarchical data exchange,

(2) data selectivity, (3) informational integration, and (4) environmental–

organismic information exchange (also Arp, 2005b, 2008a). When I describe

each of these properties, the interactions of the components of this kind

of living system, as well as the overall coordination of these components,

will become evident.

However, before investigating the fi rst of these properties in an organism,

namely, internal–hierarchical data exchange, it is necessary to explicate

the words component and homeostasis utilized in the above defi nition

of an organism. The word component is a term that can be used analogously

to refer to either a part of a process, a part of a subsystem, or a part of a

system. In the most general of terms, an organism is a unifi ed living system

made up of subsystems. In turn, these subsystems are made up of processes,

and these processes are the activities in which the components are engaged.

The components of an organism range from the organelles performing

processes in a cell, to cells performing processes in an organ, to organs

performing processes in a subsystem, to subsystems performing processes

in the whole system itself, that is, the organism. Thus, for example, the

respiratory subsystem works with other subsystems in an organism like a

dog to maintain its life: the respiratory subsystem would be considered as

one component of the entire dog, envisioned as one whole system; the

lung would be considered as one component of the respiratory subsystem of the dog; lung cellular tissue comprising one of the lobes of its lung

would be considered as one component of the lung; and the particular

kind of cell that comprises lung tissue is made up of organelles, the basic

components of cells.

Homeostasis refers to the relatively constant or stable coordination of

functioning among the components in the organismic hierarchy, given

the interaction of these components with environmental pressures internal

to and external to the organism. I will have more to say about internal

versus external environmental pressures later in this chapter. For now,

suffi ce it to say that there are environments exerting pressures upon the

subsystems and processes internal to an organism, as well as environments

exerting pressures upon the organism as a whole that are external to it.

The components that make up an organism, as well as the organism itself,

are able to respond effectively to the ever-changing environmental pressures

by adjusting and readjusting their activities so as to continue their

respective operations with a degree of stability. When a subsystem or

process in an organism is operating with a degree of stability despite environmental

pressures—for example, when the cell wall actually performs

the activity of allowing nutrients into the cell, or when a heart actually

performs the activity of pumping blood, or when the body of an animal

actually cools itself through perspiration because its temperature has been

raised above a certain degree—it is said to be functioning properly. I will

have more to say about functions in the next chapter.

We can draw a distinction between what I will call particularized homeostasis

and generalized homeostasis. Particularized homeostasis refers to the

end product of the proper functioning of the particular processes and subsystems

in an organism being the relatively constant coordination among

the components that make up the processes and subsystems, given environmental

pressures that are internal to the organism. Generalized homeostasis

refers to the overall maintenance of the life of an organism being the

result of the proper functioning of the processes and subsystems, given

environmental pressures that are external to the organism. The overall

homeostasis of the living system is maintained because homeostasis is

maintained at the levels of the subsystems and processes.

If the various processes and subsystems of an organism are functioning

properly in their internal environments—thereby producing particularized

homeostasis—the organism is able to live its life effectively in some

external environment. This proper functioning that yields internal homeostasis

takes place at levels in the hierarchy of the organism ranging from

the coordinated activities of organelles in the cell, to cells performing coordinated processes in an organ, to organs performing coordinated processes

in a subsystem, to subsystems performing coordinated activities in

an organism. Thus, in reference to our example of the dog: the dog is able

to live its life in some external environment precisely because of the

overall relatively constant coordination of the subsystems in its body; in

turn, a particular subsystem, like the respiratory subsystem, functions

properly because of the relatively constant coordination of cellular processes;

and the cells themselves function properly because of the relatively

constant coordination among the various organelles.

The subsystems and processes of an organism can be understood as

functioning at various levels of operation, from lower levels to higher

levels. The determination of a subsystem as existing at a certain level

depends upon the way in which the processes of the subsystem operate

and, in turn, the way in which the subsystems operate in the organism as

a whole. Lower level processes operate in certain ways and form the basis

for higher level processes and subsystems. In turn, higher level subsystems

and processes are comprised of lower level processes and utilize the information

from these lower levels to perform their own operations. In this

sense, along with Audesirk et al. (2002), Lycan (1995), and Salthe &

Matsuno (1995), we could say that higher level subsystems are the phenomena

that literally emerge from lower level subsystems and processes.

Later in this chapter and the next, I will have more to say about emergence

as well as about higher levels exhibiting control over lower levels—in terms

of higher levels selecting and integrating information from lower levels—in

an organismic hierarchy.

The organism can be conceptualized as a hierarchical organization

whereby levels of operation, in the forms of subsystems and processes,

function interdependently with one another in this unifi ed system. A

schematization of this hierarchical system is shown in fi gure 1.1. The

organism is represented by the large partitioned triangle that contains the

smaller partitioned triangles within it; the biggest triangles within the one

large triangle represent subsystems, the smaller triangles within those subsystems

represent processes, the smallest triangles within those processes

represent components of processes, and the partitions represent levels of

operation. Some of the triangles overlap, signifying that the subsystems

are interdependently related to one another. For example, in a hierarchically

ordered system like the mammal, the nervous (sub)system is dependent

upon the respiratory and circulatory (sub)systems, primarily for a

process of oxygen transfer to the nerve cells and brain cells of the nervous

(sub)system. At the same time, the processes of the respiratory and circulaOrganisms tory (sub)systems are dependent upon the processes of the nervous

(sub)system—found, specifi cally, in the medulla of the brain—for their

activities.