Self and Other: Toward An Expanded View of the Immune System in Health & Disease

Abstract

From the outset of scientific investigation, the application of metaphor has informed and expanded biology . Such metaphors as the Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' (interestingly not Darwin's original metaphor at all) and the selfish gene hypothesis of Richard Dawkins and the neo-Darwinians, have added much value but are exhausted when proceeding beyond the domains of reductionist causality of modern molecular biology. It is becoming increasingly more evident, that mechanisms involving biological co-option and co-operativity are of equal importance in the evolution of higher organisms. It is crucial here to understand the reciprocity involved in the use and abuse of metaphor in biology. ... This is why it is necessary to develop new perspectives communicable through new metaphors and viewpoints from which to analyse specific functionalities such as the immune system. In this paper, I will explore emerging views of the expanded function of the immune system in health and disease in both utilitarian and metaphoric mode.