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Physiology and the whole organism  ·  Article

Determinism in physiology

Determinism in physiology is the assumption that a living response follows from definite conditions, which experiment can find. The held texts use the idea in three ways. Some tie habit, behaviour and form to the conditions of existence124. Bernard makes experimental criticism the test of any theory5. Recent papers name determinants of cell fate and ask what determinism means for a finite agent79.

Earliest held
1852, Du Bois-Reymond, E. (ed. H.…
Most discussed in
Physiological Foundations of Behavior, 1924
In the library
2,811 passages in 118 works
Rewritten
2026-10-03
18501875190019251950197520002025James, W., 18901Jennings, H. S., 19062Jennings, H. S., 19063Child, C. M., 19244Bernard, C., 19575Bernard, C., 19576Sundelacruz S, Levin M, Kaplan DL, 20087Carneiro K, Donnet C, Rejtar T, Karger…, 20118Fields C, Levin M, 20229
01

Conditions of existence

James (1890) set out Lamarck's account of instinct. In that account the same habits and instincts pass on without variation from one generation to the next, as long as the outward conditions of existence stay the same1. Jennings (1906) applied the phrase to single cells. He wrote that whether infusoria react to a chemical, and how, depends on the past and present conditions of the individuals2. He noted that most animals have fairly fixed reaction types set by usual conditions such as gravity and light, commonly called tropisms. He also held that, in lower and higher animals alike, these reactions are not completely fixed or invariable3.

02

Constancy and its limits

Child (1924) took up a dispute over whether polarity and symmetry are inherent in protoplasm. He said the preformist view had no convincing evidence for it and much against it4. The preformist points to the constancy of axial pattern within a species. Child replied that experiment shows this constancy to be related to the conditions under which development occurs4. When those conditions are altered beyond a certain limit, the constancy disappears4. For Child, then, regularity of form is a product of standard conditions, not proof of an inherent plan.

03

Experimental criticism

Bernard set out what makes a determinate claim scientific. A hypothesis tested only by logic becomes a system. A hypothesis submitted to the experimental method becomes a theory5. He defined a theory as a verified hypothesis that has passed the control of reason and experimental criticism5. He added that a theory must be resubmitted to verification as new facts appear5. For pathology and therapeutics he wrote that the only possible scientific criticism is experimental criticism6. He based it on the absolute determination of facts and would not rest it on statistics6.

04

Determinants in recent work

Recent papers use "determinant" for a factor whose manipulation changes an outcome. Sundelacruz, Levin and Kaplan (2008) concluded that endogenous hyperpolarization is a functional determinant of stem cell differentiation and a tractable control point7. Carneiro and colleagues (2011) reported HDAC activity as a new left-right determinant that controls transcription of the Xnr-1 gene8. Fields and Levin (2022) raise a different point. They argue that no finite agent can discover every causal influence on its own behaviour, because global determinism logically disallows local determinism. On this view global determinism assures "free will" from every finite local perspective9.

SourcesEach quotation was checked word for word against the passage it opens.
  1. perpetuated without variation from one generation to another, so long as the outward conditions of existence remain the same.James, W., 1890 · The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2 · open at passage 3254
  2. Whether infusoria of a given species react to a certain chemical or not, and how they react, depends upon the past and present conditions of existence of the individuals.Jennings, H. S., 1906 · Behavior of the Lower Organisms · open at passage 353
  3. in neither lower nor higher animals are the reactions with reference to the general forces of nature of a completely fixed and invariable character.Jennings, H. S., 1906 · Behavior of the Lower Organisms · open at passage 674
  4. The development of the experimental method is showing us that this “constancy” is itself related to the conditions under which development of the individual occurs.Child, C. M., 1924 · Physiological Foundations of Behavior · open at passage 541
  5. A theory is a verified hypothesis, after it has been submitted to the control of reason and experimental criticism.Bernard, C., 1957 · An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine · open at passage 570
  6. As in physiology, the only scientific criticism possible in pathology and in therapeutics is experimental criticism;Bernard, C., 1957 · An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine · open at passage 510
  7. the endogenous hyperpolarization is a functional determinant of hMSC differentiation and is a tractable control point for modulating stem cell function.Sundelacruz S, Levin M, Kaplan DL, 2008 · Membrane potential controls adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation of… · open at passage 2
  8. HDAC activity is a new LR determinant controlling the transcription of the Xnr-1 gene.Carneiro K, Donnet C, Rejtar T, Karger BL, Barisone GA…, 2011 · Histone deacetylase activity is necessary for left-right patterning during… · open at passage 68
  9. No finite agent can discover all of the causal influences that determine its own behavior, as global determinism logically disallows local determinism.Fields C, Levin M, 2022 · Competency in Navigating Arbitrary Spaces as an Invariant for Analyzing… · open at passage 31
Linked ideas
Determinism in physiology is the working assumption of the mechanist side; the debate concerns whether living responses can be fully fixed by conditions.
Tropismin tension with
Tropisms are the relatively fixed reaction types set by usual conditions of existence, yet Jennings says even these are not completely fixed or invariable.
Jennings's infusoria show reactions to chemicals that vary with the past and present conditions of the individual.
Fields and Levin ask how decision making can be formalised in a deterministic system, framing navigation as search for a preferred region.
James reports Lamarck's view that habits become propensities, perpetuated unchanged while the outward conditions of existence stay the same.
Polarityrelated to
Child argues something must determine why cells with identical nuclei form a head at one axial end; Bose seeks the conditions that predispose or reverse polar effects. Polarity is treated as condition-determined.
Planaria serve as the test organism for physiological determination: Child seeks conditions fixing cell fate, and Durant times wound responses, while Jennings's state-dependent reactions and Emmons-Bell's stochastic octanol outcomes show variability.
Trial and errorin tension with
Loeb says life phenomena unequivocally determined by physicochemical conditions yield constant quantitative results, and rejects animal movements being voluntary or dictated by Jennings' 'trial and error'; Child describes it as random movements.
Weak link: Bayliss sidesteps cause and relies on the accurately measurable electrical change in excited nerve, an experimentally determined fact. No passage discusses determinism or variability explicitly.
Levin shows membrane voltage experimentally controls left-right patterning, an instance of identifiable conditions fixing a response, as Bernard's determinism holds; Bateson's irregular tapeworm sidedness illustrates variability. No passage links them explicit
Weak link: Osterhout treats NaCl/CaCl2 antagonism as an experimentally measured effect, yet says quantifying it is hard and sometimes undecidable. That echoes A's experiment-versus-complication theme, but no passage mentions determinism.
Gap junctionsrelated to
Passages show gap junctions as a mechanism in bioelectric patterning experiments (tumorigenesis, planarian polarity, regeneration), outcomes stochastic under blockade; none explicitly discusses determinism, so the link is indirect.
Child's argument that constancy of pattern depends on developmental conditions bears on how form is explained.
Child treats responses as determined by physiological state, including morphological pattern alteration and memory. Levin's bioelectric pattern memories encode target morphology, which guides regeneration. Both explain outcomes through stored, experimentally t
Loeb says animal psychology should use physiology's fact-based, mechanistic method; Binet and Jennings ask whether protoplasmic behavior counts as psychic. The passages link them but don't state a conflict.
Regenerationrelated to
Child says experiments altering conditions reveal hidden developmental potentialities. Driesch debates whether regeneration-like restitution in crystals can be explained by ordinary forces. Both treat regeneration as a test of how definite conditions determine
Passages never mention determinism. Child treats protoplasmic conductivity as experimentally alterable to control individuation and its results; Osterhout measures conductivity and resistance in injury and recovery. Both reflect an experimental-control stance.
Loeb treats heliotropism as machine-like, and Driesch says gravity determines stem and root direction. Jennings counters that tropism sign varies with individual history, so it is not a fixed reflex.
Galvanotaxispart of / contains
Galvanotaxis is cited as an instance of determinism: Verworn says it follows 'with mechanical necessity' from stimulus-induced biotonus differences, and Loeb ties it to ion concentration changes at organ boundaries.
Jennings makes metabolic state the 'most important determining factor' of behaviour, an instance of determinism. Meyerhof and Warburg's measurements and Thompson's 'determinate paths' of energy support a mechanistic view.
Where it is discussedPassages matching determinism, experimental method, conditions of existence, experimental criticism
1924Physiological Foundations of Behavior · Child, C. M.310
1906Plant Response as a Means of Physiological Investigation · Bose, J. C.205
1890The Principles of Psychology, Vols. 1-2 · James, W.186
1957An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine · Bernard, C.162
1915Principles of General Physiology · Bayliss, W. M.159
1906Behavior of the Lower Organisms · Jennings, H. S.142
1915Individuality in Organisms · Child, C. M.126
1992On Growth and Form · Thompson, D. A. W.121
1923Protoplasmic Action and Nervous Action · Lillie, R. S.119
1916The Organism as a Whole, from a Physicochemical Viewpoint · Loeb, J.84