Reductionism - The ends of understanding

The reductionist approach to explaining biological phenomena has displayed its power through the spectacular triumphs of molecular biology. But the approach has its limitations, as discussed at a meeting last month. It is not likely to be useful, or practicable, to explain many biological processes in terms of particle physics. Moreover, exploration of other levels, such as molecules, genes, cells, organisms and populations, may well be more appropriate for an adequate explanation — begging the question, of course, of what constitutes an ‘adequate’ explanation