Chance and Necessity: Jacques Monod's philosophy of biology

Dr. David Peña-Guzmán, Philosophy professor and co-host of the Overthink podcast, discusses the book Chance and Necessity by biochemist and Nobel laureate Jacques Monod. In the book, Monod tries to make sense of what he calls "the strangeness of living beings." How do we account for the complexity of organic life with the tools of both science and philosophy? David breaks down Monod's theory of biology, examining his concepts of teleonomy and autonomous morphogenesis, and distinguishes Monod's account from other influential theories such as vitalism and dialectical materialism.

Graphics and editing by Aaron Morgan

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