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Full Idea
Biologists don't split living things into a 'structural' level and an 'abstract' level; ..rather, they are organised at many levels, each level 'abstract' with respect to those beneath it, but 'structural' as it realises those levels above it.
Gist of Idea
Biologists see many organic levels, 'abstract' if seen from below, 'structural' if seen from above
Source
William Lycan (Introduction - Ontology [1999], p.9)
Book Ref
'Mind and Cognition (2nd Edn)', ed/tr. Lycan,William [Blackwell 1999], p.9
A Reaction
This is a very helpful distinction. Compare Idea 4601. It seems to fit well with the 'homuncular' picture of a hierarchical mind, and explains why there are so many levels of description available for mental life.
Related Idea
Idea 4601 Higher-level sciences cannot be reduced, because their concepts mark boundaries invisible at lower levels [Heil]
| 5501 | People are trying to explain biological teleology in naturalistic causal terms [Lycan] |
| 5494 | 'Lightning is electric discharge' and 'Phosphorus is Venus' are synthetic a posteriori identities [Lycan] |
| 5496 | Functionalism has three linked levels: physical, functional, and mental [Lycan] |
| 5499 | A mental state is a functional realisation of a brain state when it serves the purpose of the organism [Lycan] |
| 5500 | Biologists see many organic levels, 'abstract' if seen from below, 'structural' if seen from above [Lycan] |