Philosophy of immunology / / Thomas Pradeu.

• Superior document: Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of biology, 2515-1126
• VerfasserIn: Pradeu, Thomas,
• Place / Publishing House: Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press,, 2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Cambridge elements. Elements in the philosophy of biology,
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (83 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).
• Notes: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Jan 2020).

Immunology is central to contemporary biology and medicine, but it also provides novel philosophical insights. Its most significant contribution to philosophy concerns the understanding of biological individuality: what a biological individual is, what makes it unique, how its boundaries are established and what ensures its identity through time. Immunology also offers answers to some of the most interesting philosophical questions. What is the definition of life? How are bodily systems delineated? How do the mind and the body interact? In this Element, Thomas Pradeu considers the ways in which immunology can shed light on these and other important philosophical issues. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Philosophy of Immunology -- Contents -- 1 Introduction: The Centrality of Immunity in Biology and Medicine -- 2 Immunity: A Matter of Defense? -- 2.1 Historically, Immunity Has Been Understood As the Capacity of an Organism to Defend Itself against Pathogens -- 2.2 Defensive Immune Mechanisms Have Been Identified in Virtually All Living Things -- 2.3 Extended Immunity: Immunity Goes Well Beyond Defense -- 2.4 Accounting for the Evolution of Immunological Processes and Attributing a Function to the Immune System Have Become Difficult -- 2.5 Is It Still Possible to Offer a Precise and Simple Definition of Immunity? -- 3 The Unity of the Individual: Self-Nonself, Autoimmunity, Tolerance, and Symbiosis -- 3.1 From Early Reflections about Immunological Individuality to the Concepts of "Self" and "Nonself" -- 3.2 Autoimmunity, Tolerance, and Symbiotic Interactions with Microbes -- 3.3 Immunology's Contribution to the Definition of Biological Individuality -- 3.4 The Role of the Immune System in Turning a Set of Heterogeneous Constituents into an Integrated Individual -- 3.5 Combining Different Approaches to Biological Individuality -- 4 Cancer as a Deunification of the Individual -- 4.1 How the Immune System Restrains Cancer: The Complex History of the Idea of Immunosurveillance -- 4.2 The Dual Action of the Immune System in Both Restraining and Promoting Cancer: Immunoediting and Beyond -- 4.3 Immune-Cancer Interactions: Current Views and Clinical Applications -- 4.4 Role of the Immune System in the Breakdown of Biological Individuality That Characterizes Cancer -- 5 Neuroimmunology: The Intimate Dialogue between the Nervous System and the Immune System -- 5.1 From Psychoneuroimmunology and Neuroimmunology to Present-Day Characterizations of the Dialogue between the Nervous and the Immune Systems.

5.2 Interactions between the Nervous and the Immune System in Health -- 5.3 Interactions between the Nervous and the Immune System in Pathological Contexts -- 5.4 Mapping the Different Conceptual Questions Raised by Neuroimmunology -- 5.4.1 Interaction: How Do the Nervous and the Immune System Interact? -- 5.4.2 Similarity: Are the Nervous and the Immune System Structurally and/or Functionally Similar? -- 5.4.3 Overlap: To What Extent Do the Nervous and the Immune System Overlap or Even Constitute a Single System? -- 5.4.4 Origins: Do the Nervous and the Immune System Share Evolutionary Origins? -- 5.4.5 Control: Does the Nervous System Control the Immune System or the Other Way Around? -- 5.5 Conclusion: Some Philosophical Consequences -- References -- Acknowledgments.