Abstract : Over the past decades, self-assembly has attracted a lot of research attention and transformed the relations between chemistry, materials science and biology. The paper explores the impact of the current interest in self-assembly techniques on the traditional debate over the nature of life. The first section describes three different research programs of self-assembly in nanotechnology in order to characterize their metaphysical implications: -1- Hybridization ( using the building blocks of living systems for making devices and machines) ; -2- Biomimetics (making artifacts mimicking nature); -3- Integration (a composite of the two previous strategies). The second section focused on the elusive boundary between selfassembly and self-organization tries to map out the various positions adopted by the promoters of self-assembly on the issue of vitalism?
https://hal-paris1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00937209
Contributor : Bernadette Bensaude Vincent <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, January 28, 2014 - 8:31:59 AM Last modification on : Tuesday, January 19, 2021 - 11:08:43 AM Long-term archiving on: : Sunday, April 9, 2017 - 1:28:15 AM