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Gary Berg-Cross edited this page Oct 4, 2019 · 4 revisions

Welcome to the System wiki based on the 2 day meeting 10/2/19 to 10/3/19 with 4 face-to-face participants and some call ins.

Defs to help identify the relevant concepts we look at several views of mechanisms and systems:

  1. “A mechanism for a behavior is a complex system that produces that behavior by the interaction of a number of parts, where the interactions between parts can be characterized by direct, change-relating generalizations.”

Behaviors are produced by/caused by mechanisms. Behaviors function with input and output.

Mechanisms are complex systems/structures with interaction parts.

Part interactions can be characterized. Mechanisms can perform a function/create phenomena because of: its component parts (characteristics) their organization their operation/activity.

  1. “Mechanisms are entities and activities organized such that they are productive of regular changes from start or set-up to finish or terminating conditions.”

Mechanisms are both entities and activities. Mechanisms are organized/structured. Mechanisms produce change. Change has a start and an end (states). Starts and ends have conditions. End states have terminating conditions.

Relevant papers include: Mechanisms in biomedical ontology Johannes Röhl From Ontologies in Biomedicine and Life Sciences (OBML 2011)

Glennan S: Rethinking mechanistic explanation. Philosophy of Science 2002, 69:342-353.

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