ABSTRACT This paper presents the philosophical implications of the position that we call mereological perspectivism . Mereological perspectivism asserts that determining whether a composite biological object constitutes a single unit (an individual) necessarily depends on the selection of privileged parts of the composite. First, we show how mereological perspectivism is used in several debates in philosophy of biology (biological individuality, ecosystem individuality). Second, we show the implications of mereological perspectivism for the general discussions on scientific perspectivism. Finally, we show how it can illuminate the debates about biological essentialism.
Stencel et al. (Thu,) studied this question.