Henri Atlan, who for the past thirty years has been a major voice in contemporary European philosophical and bio-ethical debates, has published on matters as seemingly distinct as complexity and the theory of self-organization, artificial intelligence, parables from the Hebrew Bible, the faults of the "genetic program" theory in genetics, cloning and the possibility of an artificial uterus, Spinoza, Jewish mysticism, biotechnologies, the figure of the Golem, and the idea of freedom. His contributions to biology and biological thought are marked throughout by a philosophical and humanistic sophistication, rooted in an understanding of and profound commitment to Judaism. His massive oeuvre offers an exceptionally powerful philosophical argumentation that is as hostile to scientism as it is attentive to biology's conceptual and experimental rigor, as careful with concepts of rationality as it is committed to rethinking the human place in a radically determined yet forever changing worldThis is the first volume to bring together the major strands of Atlan's work for an English-language audience. It presents 28 selections, ranging in date from 1972 to 2005 and including the major chapters of Atlan's magnum opus Sparks of Randomness as well as complete translations of Is Science Inhuman? An Essay on Free Necessity (2002) and The End of "Everything-Genetic"? Toward New Paradigms in Biology (1999). Its selections begin with Atlan's pioneering work on self-organization, extend through his extensive writings on Spinoza's philosophy and on Judaism, and conclude with examples of his writings on ethics and especially bio-ethics, a field in which Atlan has extensive practical experience due to his long service on the French National Committee of Ethics for Health and Life Sciences.The book will be essential for teaching in a wide range of disciplines that seek to open conversations between scientific and philosophical positions. It will be an indispensable compendium for those seeking to clarify the joint stakes and shared import of philosophy and science for questions of life and the living.A substantial Introduction by the editors provides the best introduction to Atlan's work in English to date. It carefully traces out and interconnects the various themes that interweave his many writings into a coherent picture of an astonishing intellectual career.

Henri Atlan is Professor Emeritus of Biophysics and Director of Research on Human Biology at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem and Director of Studies at the cole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris. From its inception in 1983, he was for decades a member of the French National Advisory Committee on Ethics in the Life Sciences and Medicine.