Ariel Jonathan Roffé

• Doctor of Philosophy
• National Scientific and Technical Research Council

In this article we scrutinize what can be called an "experimentalist dogma" presupposed in Pablo Melogno's analysis of empirical incommensurability in the chemical revolution. According to Melogno, the fact that experimental methods were preserved throughout the chemical revolution was an indication that there were no relevant perceptual difference...

The Price equation provides a comprehensive representation of evolutionary processes. Since its original formulation by George Price, it has been used to model a variety of phenomena in quantitative genetics and related fields. However, there is no consensus on the explanatory power of the equation. In this article we aim to clarify its place withi...

In recent times, the exponential growth of sequenced genomes and structural knowledge of proteins, as well as the development of computational tools and controlled vocabularies to deal with this growth, has fueled a demand for conceptual clarification regarding the concept of function in molecular biology. In this article, we will attempt to develo...

In this paper, we examine the issue of the empirical or non-empirical status of philosophical metatheories. In particular, we ask whether a specific type of metatheoretical product, formal reconstructions of scientific theories, can be empirically tested. To answer this, we take Metatheoretical Structuralism as a metatheory and Classical Mechanics...

The observational-theoretical distinction has played a central role in the philosophy of science from logical empiricism onwards. Developments within the discipline have shown that such a distinction hides two non-identical distinctions: observational vs. non-observational and theoretical vs. non-theoretical. Likewise, metatheoretical structuralism...

En este artículo sostenemos que, en aquellos casos en los cuales la capacidad explanandum de un análisis sistémico o mecanicista constituye una función biológica, globalmente, la función explica la estructura y no a la inversa, a pesar de que en algunos casos particulares, el orden en que se determinan los conceptos participantes en la explicación...

In this paper, we present a way to translate the metainferences of a mixed metainferential system into formulae of an extended-language system, called its associated σ-system. To do this, the σ-system will contain new operators (one for each satisfaction standard), called the σ operators, which represent the notions of "belonging to a (given) satis...

La memética constituye un enfoque sobre la evolución cultural que se ha encontrado en el foco de la discusión y recolectado críticas de diverso tipo en las últimas décadas. El propósito de nuestro trabajo consiste en indagar si, más allá de las críticas y defensas existentes, puede considerarse que existe actualmente algún programa de investigación...

In this article, we provide three generators of propositional formulae for arbitrary languages, which uniformly sample three different formulae spaces. They take the same three parameters as input, namely, a desired depth, a set of atomics and a set of logical constants (with specified arities). The first generator returns formulae of exactly the g...

A given explanatory theory T falls into circular reasoning if the only way to determine its explanandum is through the application of T. To find an (often previous) underlying theory T ′ that determines T ′ s explanandum helps us save T from this accusation of circularity. We follow the structuralist view of theories in presenting and dealing with...

Resumen En el presente trabajo se analiza la controversia existente en el marco de la sistemática biológica en torno al estatus de la cladística. La utilización del método de parsimonia para la reconstrucción filogenética ha sido defendida apelando a un principio metodológico de simplicidad, así como a principios fácticos externos a la propia siste...

The systemic approach to function proposes to ground every use of functional language in biology in a systemic analysis. A systemic analysis is a kind of explanation or procedure that parts from a capacity of a system and shows how this capacity is exercised by the system by decomposing it into other sub-capacities that are implemented in the (part...

In this article, I examine the issue of the alleged circularity in the determination of homologies within cladistic analysis. More specifically, I focus on the claims made by the proponents of the dynamic homology approach, regarding the distinction (sometimes made in the literature) between primary and secondary homology. This distinction is somet...

In a recent book, McShea and Brandon argue that the observed diversity and complexity of life are explainable by a principle they call the “zero-force evolutionary law” or “ZFEL”. Although this principle would be implicit in many explanations given by biologists, it would have never been made explicit. Assuming that this idea is interesting, and th...

In this article, I develop three conceptual innovations within the area of formal metatheory, and present a computer program, called Reconstructor, that implements those developments. The first development consists in a methodology for testing formal reconstructions of scientific theories, which involves checking both whether translations of paradi...

This article elaborates on McShea and Brandon’s idea that drift is unlike the rest of the evolutionary factors because it is constitutive rather than imposed on the evolutionary process. I show that the way they spelled out this idea renders it inadequate and is the reason why it received some (good) objections. I propose a different way in which t...

The propensity account of fitness intends to solve the classical tautologicity issue by identifying fitness with a disposition, the ability to survive and reproduce. As proponents recognized early on, this account requires operational independence from actual reproductive success to avoid circularity and vacuousness charges. They suggested that ope...

Due to an unfortunate turn of events, the family name of the first author was erroneously published as 'RoffÕ' in the original publication (PDF). The correct representation of the first author's family name is listed above and below.

In this article, we defend that incorporating a rejection operator into a paraconsistent language involves fully specifying its inferential characteristics within the logic. To do this, we examine a recent proposal by Berto (2014) for a paraconsistent rejection, which — according to him — avoids paradox, even when introduced into a language that co...

An interesting metatheoretical controversy took place during the 1980’s and 1990’s between pattern and phylogenetic cladists. What was always at stake in the discussion was not how work in systematics should be carried out, but rather how this practice should be metatheoretically interpreted. In this article, we criticize Pearson’s account of the m...

El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en analizar las relaciones entre los modelos de optimalidad y la selección natural. Defenderemos que esas relaciones pueden dividirse en dos tipos, en tanto hay dos tipos de explicaciones seleccionistas, que llamaremos "históricas" y "ahistóricas". Las explicaciones históricas revelan como una población dada adq...

The adequacy of Elliott Sober’s analogy between classical mechanics and evolutionary theory—according to which both theories explain via a zero-force law and a set of forces that alter the zero-force state—has been criticized from various points of view. I focus here on McShea and Brandon’s claim that drift shouldn’t be considered a force because i...

Es una opinión extendida que la teoría de la selección natural, tal como fue formulada originalmente por Darwin de manera “cualitativa”, ha sido reemplazada por una versión cuantitativa superior, brindada por la genética de poblaciones. En este artículo se discute contra esa tesis, sosteniendo en cambio que ambas teorías son complementarias, no suc...

en línea) Cuadernos de filosofía /62 .2014 65 [65-75] Sobre la capturabilidad de teorías informales en sistemas axiomáticos formales* " Ariel Roffé Universidad de Buenos Aires Introducción El objetivo de este artículo es analizar qué quiere decir capturar una teoría (se utili-zará la aritmética como ejemplo paradigmático) por medio de un sistema ax...

Se trata de la reseña escrita por Ariel Roffé del libro escrito por el biólogo Daniel W. McShea y el filósofo de la biología Robert N. Brandon, The Tendency for Diversity and Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems, en el cual desafían las explicaciones explícitas encontradas en la literatura acerca del origen de la diversidad y la complejid...