Surrounding Space On the Ontology of Organism-Envi

1SurroundingSpaceOntheOntologyofOrganism-EnvironmentRelationsBarrySmithDepartmentofPhilosophyandCenterforCognitiveScience,SUNYBuffalo,NYAchilleC.VarziDepartmentofPhilosophy,ColumbiaUniversity,NewYork,NY[PublishedinTheoryinBiosciences120:2(2002),139–162]Abstract.Thehistoryofevolutionisahistoryofdevelopmentfromlesstomorecom-plexorganisms.Thisgrowthincomplexityoforganismsgoeshandinhandwithacon-currentgrowthincomplexityofenvironmentsandoforganism-environmentrelations.Itisaconcernwiththislatteraspectofevolutionarydevelopmentthatmotivatesthepresentpaper.Webeginbyoutliningatheoryoforganism-environmentrelations.Wethenshowthatthetheorycanbeappliedtoarangeofdifferentsortsofcases,bothbiologicalandnon-biological,inwhichobjectsarelodgedorhousedwithinspecificenvironments,orniches.Biologicalscienceisinterestedintypes—forexampleingenotypes,phenotypes,andenvironmenttypes—inregularitiesthatcanserveasthebasisfortheformulationoflawsorgeneralprinciples.Types,however,canexistonlythroughtheircorrespondingtokens.Ourtheoryoftokenenvironmentsismeanttoplugthisgapandtoprovideafirststeptowardsageneraltheoryofcausallyrelevantspatialvolumes.1.IntroductionThehistoryofevolutionis,veryroughly,ahistoryofdevelopmentfromthelesstothemorecomplex.Philosopherswhohaveturnedtheirattentionstothesemattershaveconcentratedalmostexclusivelyonthegrowthincom-plexityoforganisms.(Inthis,ofcourse,theyhavefollowedmostbiologists.)AsRichardLewontin[21]pointsout,however,thegrowthincomplexityoforganismsgoeshandinhandwithaconcurrentgrowthincomplexityofen-vironmentsandthusoforganism-environmentrelations.Organismsselecttheirenvironments,buttheyalsodetermineandmodifytheenvironmentalfeatureswhicharemostrelevanttotheirownsurvival.Itisthislatteraspectofevolutionarydevelopmentthatconcernsushere.Considerthearmchairinwhichyouarenowsitting.Thisisanartefact;anobjectofaspecialsortwhichistobeunderstood,onstandardviews,in2termsofitsfunctionorintermsoftheintentionsofitscreator.Yetthereisanaspectofyourarmchairwhichitshareswithnon-artefactualentitiessuchasthehollowinthegroundinwhichanapemightshelterfromthewind,orthecaveinwhichabearmightmakeitshome.Briefly,thearmchair,thehol-low,andthecaveareallwhatweshallcallniches,theyareenvironmentsintowhichanorganismfits.1Thisfittingrelationispervasivelyexemplifiednotonlyintherealmofbiologicalphenomenamorenarrowlyconceived,butalsointherealmsoftechnologyandculture.Indeedartefactsingeneralcanthemselvesbedividedintotwosorts:thosewhicharedesignedtoserveinthefittingrelationsuchasarmchairs,rooms,parks,circus-tents;andthosewhicharenotsodesigned.Eventhelatterareinmanycasesstandardlyappliedtotheconstructionorembellishmentofartefactsoftheformertype.Thisistrue,forexample,ofcarpenters’toolsandofpaintingsorlampstands.In[31],drawingprimarilyonbiologicalexamples,wedefendedaviewoftherelationoffitbetweenanicheanditstenantsasarelationcapableofbeingspecifiedwiththeaidofbasicconceptsofformalontology—ofmere-ology,topology,andthetheoryoflocation.Thetheorytherepresentedwassynchroniconly.Thatistosay,wewereconcernedexclusivelywiththefor-malstructureexemplifiedwheneveratenantisinanicheatagiventime.Insuchcircumstancesanicheisanalogoustoatopologicalneighborhoodsur-roundingitstenant.Inthepresentpaperweextendthistheorybyprovidingafirststeptowardsatheoryofnichedynamics,atheoryoflife,motion,andgrowth,viaamoredetailedaccountoftheinternalstructuresofnichesandofthecausalrelationsbetweennichesandtheirsurroundings.Byaddingthisdynamicdimensionweshallbeinapositiontothrowlightonthewaysinwhichevolutioninvolvessimultaneousandmutuallyreinforcingprocessesofnaturalselectionandnicheconstruction.Intuitively,anichemayormaynotbeoccupiedbyatenant.Thetenantmayleaveitsniche,aswhenthekangaroojoeyleavesthepouchofitsmother.Orthetenantmaymovefromonenichetoanother,aswhenthewhoopingcranemigratesfromitsbreedinggroundsinAlbertatoitswinter1Dictionariesdistinguishtwosensesoftheterm‘niche’:anarchitecturalsense,whichmeansacreviceorhole,aplaceintowhichsomethingfits,andafunctionalsense,whichmeansaroleoroptionwithinaspaceofalternatives.Therelationbetweentheseusesofthetermfromanecologicalperspectivewillbeaddressedbelow.3homeintheGulfofMexico.Atheoryofnichedynamicsmustthereforemakeroomnotonlyforatheoryofthenicheasoccupied(i.e.,ofthetenant-nicherelation),butalsoforatheoryofthevacantnicheandofthepassagefromonenichetoanother.Wethusbeginourremarkswithanaccountofwhatvacantandoccupiednicheshaveincommon.Asintheearlierpaper,weshallconcentrateprimarilyonbiologicalexamples.Thenichestructureswithwhichwedealwillinthefirstplacebethosethatareinstantiatedwhereor-ganismsorgroupsoforganismsarehousedwithintheirsurroundings,whethernatural(theholloworcave)orartefactual(thearmchair,ahouse,acircustent).Later,however,wewillshowthatthetheoryofsuchstructurescanbeappliedtoawiderangeofdifferentsortsofcasesinwhichobjects,includinginanimateobjects,arelodgedorhousedwithinenvironmentalset-tings.2.TheStructureofNichesConsideranoccupiedniche—thebearinitscave(Figure1).Thereismani-festedherewhatwemightthinkofasadoubleholestructure.Inthecenterofthi