180099 VO-L Biological theories of aging (2022S)

Unless a pandemic strikes, people have been living longer and longer in recent decades. But what exactly does it mean to get older? Do all organisms necessarily age? How can we influence the lifespan? What do current biological theories say about aging? In addition to the social effects of an "aging society", there are a number of philosophical aspects of biological aging research or gerontology. The distinction between chronological and biological age raises questions about how we can even measure and define age. Is aging a disease? There are a whole lot of theories that have hardly been examined from a philosophical of science perspective. Within the philosophy of biology, aging research as a whole has received relatively little attention - but this is slowly changing. In this lecture, accompanied by the reading of current research literature, we deal with the philosophical aspects of biological aging research.
A number of "classic" philosophy of science problems seem to be particularly important in aging research - but have so far been hardly discussed. For example, there are the multitude of theories on the causes and mechanisms of aging, their relationships to each other, their different explanatory goals and methods. Different definitions and measures of aging are used, with different theoretical and practical consequences. The demarcation of science and pseudo-science seems particularly relevant in the face of swaggering promises of longer lives, some of which are scientifically based, but often quack nonsense merely employing scientific concepts and language.
A philosophy of science outside of the proverbial "ivory tower" can provide insights into an exciting research area of ​​biology, as well as directly influence methods and interpretation of biological research by using conceptual tools and analysis, among other philosophical reflection. That is what this course will be about.