Interdependence: Biology and Beyond

145 Pages·2015·2.503 MB·English

by  Kriti Sharma

Interdependence
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MEANING SYSTEMS
series editors
Bruce Clarke and Henry Sussman
Editorial Board
Victoria N. Alexander, Dactyl Foundation
for the Arts and Humanities
Erich Hörl, Ruhr University Bochum
John H. Johnston, Emory University
Hans- Georg Moeller, Philosophy and
Religious Studies Program, University of
Macau, China
John Protevi, Louisiana State University
Samuel Weber, Northwestern University
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I nt e r d e p e n d e n c e
Biology and Beyond
Kriti Sharma
Fordham University Press : New York 2015
Copyright © 2015 Fordham University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sharma, Kriti.
Interdependence : biology and beyond / Kriti Sharma.
pages cm. — (Meaning systems)
Summary: “From biology to economics to information
theory, the theme of interdependence is in the air, framing
our experiences of all sorts of everyday phenomena. Indeed,
the network may be the ascendant metaphor of our time.
Yet precisely because the language of interdependence has
become so commonplace as to be almost banal, we miss
some of its most surprising and far-reaching implications”
— Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8232-6552-7 (hardback) —
ISBN 978-0-8232-6553-4 (paper)
1. Autonomy (Philosophy) 2. Biology—Philosophy.
I. Title.
B808.67.S53 2015
111—dc23
2014045376
Printed in the United States of America
17 16 15    5 4 3 2 1
First edition
To Om and Jyoti Sharma,
generous and loving parents.
To Rulia Ram Sharma, Kanta Sharma,
Giridhari Lal Nagar, and Raksha Nagar,
cherished and respected grandparents.
And to all the ancestors
upon whom this life depends.
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Contents
Introduction: Taking
Inter de pen dence Seriously ...................... 1
1. It Depends: Contingent Existence ................ 6
2. What Do Objects Depend On?
Physical Substance, Matter, and
the External World ........................... 20
3. What Does Sensing Depend On?
Transduction, Energy, and the
Meeting of Worlds ........................... 41
4. What Do Organisms Depend On?
Bodies, Selves, and
Internal Worlds .............................. 70
5. What Does Order Depend On?
Patterns, Gaps, and the Known World ........... 85
Conclusion: Life as We Know It ................ 99
Notes ......................................107
References ..................................119
Index ......................................123
Acknowledgments: What Does
This Book Depend On? .................... 129