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Mechanisms in practice: A methodological approach
Author(s) -
Ioannidis Stavros,
Psillos Stathis
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12971
Subject(s) - mechanism (biology) , biomedicine , meaning (existential) , epistemology , cognitive science , sociology , psychology , engineering ethics , philosophy , bioinformatics , biology , engineering
In this paper, we offer a minimal characterization of the concept of mechanism in biomedicine, according to which a mechanism is a theoretically described causal pathway. We argue that this conception can be drawn from scientific practice, as illustrated by how a central biological and biomedical mechanism, the mechanism of apoptosis, was first identified and characterized. We will use the example of cytological and biochemical theoretical descriptions of the mechanism of apoptosis to draw lessons about the meaning of the concept of mechanism in biomedical contexts and to contrast our preferred account of mechanism with some prominent accounts within the philosophical literature. The main outcome of our discussion will be that commitment to mechanism is first and foremost a methodological stance.