Mechanisms in biomedical ontology

Abstract

The concept of a mechanism has become a standard proposal for explanations in biology. It has been claimed that mechanistic explanations are appropriate for systems biology, because they occupy a middle ground between strict reductionism and holism. Because of their importance in the field a formal ontological description of mechanisms is desirable. The standard philosophical accounts of mechanisms are often ambiguous and lack the clarity that can be provided by a formal-ontological framework. The goal of this paper is to clarify some of these ambiguities and suggest such a framework for mechanisms. Taking some hints from an "ontology of devices" I suggest as a general approach for this task the introduction of functional kinds and functional parts by which the particular relations between a mechanism and its components can be captured.