Chance, Necessity, and Ratchets: The Modal Structure of Biology

Start date: 1 May 2026
End date: 30 April 2029
Funder: Leverhulme Trust
Primary investigator: Dr. Margarida Hermida

Science describes how things are, but it also uncovers the modal structure of the world: what is possible,

impossible, or necessary. This project will articulate a new account of biological modality that will transform our

view of animal agency. Biology has a rich modal structure that includes physical and biological necessity, laws,

probability, and various possibility spaces that evolve over time. The project will map these various kinds of

biological modality and their interactions with the physical sciences, to understand how organisms exploit

stochasticity to promote their own goals, and how animal agency emerges from its physical and biological basis.