Awards

• Winner of Winner of the 2015 Lakatos Award by the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Overview

What counts as an individual in the living world? What does it mean for a living thing to remain the same through time, while constantly changing? These questions are the province of immunology, one of the most dynamic fields in biology. Immunology answers these questions with its theory of ""self"" and ""nonself"" which has dominated the field since the 1940s. Thomas Pradeu argues that this theory is inadequate, because immune responses to self constituents and immune tolerance of foreign entities are the rule, not the exception. Instead Pradeu advances an alternative theory, the continuity theory, which offers a new way to answer the question of what triggers an immune response. It also echoes the recent realization that all organisms, and not only higher vertebrates, have an immune system. Pradeu's main thesis is that the self-nonself theory should be abandoned, but that immunology still proves to be decisive for delineating the boundaries of the organism. Articulating an evolutionary and an immunological perspective, he offers an original conception of the organism. Tolerance of the fetus by the mother and of countless bacteria on the body's surfaces proves that every organism is heterogeneous, that is, made of entities of different origins. In other words, every organism appears as a chimera , a mixed living thing-the cohesiveness of which is ensured by the constant action of its immune system. The Limits of the Self, will be essential reading for anyone interested in the definition of biological individuality and the understanding of the immune system.

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9780199775286

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Reviews

There are several aspects of the book that are appealing for philosophers of biology in particular. ... Pradeu has produced a hybrid book with many strengths and great coherence. Maureen A. OMalley, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Thomas Pradeu's The Limits of the Self represents a sophisticated analysis of how the self can be defined in terms of the immune system and how this strictly biological view can inform the philosophical concept. Richard P. Novick, Times Literary Supplement

<br> The topic and the thesis of this book are both of great philosophical interest and practical significance. Some of the most important medical questions, most obviously around cancer and the action of pathogens, are being transformed by contemporary molecular biology. But these developments cannot be properly understood without an adequate conception of the immune system the failure of which is a basic assumption of our interpretation of these pathologies. Philosophical discussions of immunology are few and far between; but if anyone thought this was because the topic was philosophically uninteresting, this book will change their minds. The dynamic conception of the immune system that Pradeu proposes has vital implications for the meaning of health and illness and even for our conception of the organism. It should be widely discussed by philosophers of biology, but also by the biomedical scientists whose work it addresses. --John Dupre, University of Exeter<p><br> A noteworthy contribution to immunology's abundant theoretical literature. --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews<p><br>

The topic and the thesis of this book are both of great philosophical interest and practical significance. Some of the most important medical questions, most obviously around cancer and the action of pathogens, are being transformed by contemporary molecular biology. But these developments cannot be properly understood without an adequate conception of the immune system the failure of which is a basic assumption of our interpretation of these pathologies. Philosophical discussions of immunology are few and far between; but if anyone thought this was because the topic was philosophically uninteresting, this book will change their minds. The dynamic conception of the immune system that Pradeu proposes has vital implications for the meaning of health and illness and even for our conception of the organism. It should be widely discussed by philosophers of biology, but also by the biomedical scientists whose work it addresses. --John Dupre, University of Exeter A noteworthy contribution to immunology's abundant theoretical literature. --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Author Information

Thomas Pradeu is Senior Researcher at the CNRS & University of Bordeaux (France). From 2008 to 2014, he was Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science at Paris-Sorbonne University. He is also Associated Researcher at IHPST Paris. His research deals mainly with the definition of the organism, the notion of biological individuality, and the concept of ""self"" as it appears in today's immunology.

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