<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

It is often argued both by scientists and the lay public that it is extremely unlikely for life or minds to arise spontaneously, but this argument is hard to quantify. In this paper I make this argument more rigorous, starting with a review of the concepts of information and entropy, and then examining the specific case of Maxwell's demon and how it relates to living systems. I argue that information and entropy are objective physical quantities, defined for systems as a whole, which allow general arguments in terms of physical law. In particular, I argue that living systems obey the same rules as Maxwell's demons.
</abstract>

Spontaneous Appearance of Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The post-genomic era raises questions about neo-Darwinian genetic determinism. Instead, open aspects of macroevolution become intelligible by Evo-Devo research. At all developmental levels, self-organization acts robustly towards “wholeness”, as exemplified by organoid technologies. In retinal reaggregates histotypical features are reached along different formative routes. Thus, tissue formation is not merely gene-directed, but channeled by unpredictable external conditions. These insights restrict conceptions of onto- and phylogenesis. Neither is characterized by unlimited randomness nor by finite genocentrism. A re-examination of Driesch’s drive to wholeness, i.e., robustness and intentionality, appears timely, while his teleologic postulates remain undecidable by reductionist reasoning.
</abstract>

Post-genomics, Evo-Devo and the recurrence of teleologic thought<xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_biocosmos-2022-0002_fn_003">†</xref>

No <italic>Homo</italic>: Why Theistic Evolution Fails

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BioCosmos: New perspectives on the origin and evolution of life

 BioCosmos is an on-line, peer-reviewed, open access journal that currently does not charge authors for publishing. The journal aims to present a wide variety of novel perspectives on the origins and nature of life that go beyond the standard neo-Darwinian paradigm of biological evolution. The focus is on theoretically innovative, data-driven analysis and experimental results from biology and biochemistry, although broader perspectives from philosophy and physics are also represented.   BioCosmos encourages high quality scientific research and debate, which results in novel theoretical or experimental approaches that deal with unsolved problems of the standard biological theories. To bring about this aim, the journal’s peer review process takes to heart Newton’s ‘Hypotheses non fingo’. In other words, it judges the theoretical claims proposed by authors in terms of the results rather than in terms of how standard theorists deal with the same results. Inevitably, the range of research potentially covered by this journal is very wide. The tableau below provides a sense of this range.   The journal publishes original research articles, reviews, commentaries, letters to the editor and conference reports. Further details, along with instructions for submission, can be found under JOURNAL INFORMATION.   Biosciences:    Systems Biology   Theoretical Biology   Historical Biology   Cell Biology and Molecular Machines   Biological Fine-tuning   Biochemical Complexity   Bioinformatics   Population Genetics   Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Theory   Extended Synthesis   Simulated Evolution   Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics   Functional Morphology   Computational Biology   Paleontology   Astrobiology   RNA World    Physics and Cosmology:    Cosmology and Fine tuning   Quantum Cosmology    Chemistry:    Prebiotic Scenarios   Origin of Life Studies   Autocatalysis   Prebiotic catalysis   Amphiphilic assembly   Astrochemistry    Philosophy:    Teleology and Final Causes   Design Arguments   Anti- and Alt-Materialisms   Systems and Complexity Theory   Category and Information Theory      Archiving   Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.   Plagiarism Policy   The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 

BioCosmos: New perspectives on the origin and evolution of life

Volume 2 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Origin of Life Studies

Spontaneous Appearance of Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Theory

Post-genomics, Evo-Devo and the recurrence of teleologic thought^†

Philosophy

No Homo: Why Theistic Evolution Fails

Search

All Volumes and Issues in this Journal

BioCosmos: New perspectives on the origin and evolution of life

Volume 2 (2022): Issue 1 (January 2022)

Origin of Life Studies

Spontaneous Appearance of Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Theory

Post-genomics, Evo-Devo and the recurrence of teleologic thought†

Philosophy

No Homo: Why Theistic Evolution Fails

Search

All Volumes and Issues in this Journal

Post-genomics, Evo-Devo and the recurrence of teleologic thought^†