Chance and Necessity

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Chance and Necessity: Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology (French: Le Hasard
et la Nécessité: Essai sur la philosophie naturelle de la biologie moderne) is a 1970 book byNobel
Prize winner Jacques Monod, interpreting the processes of evolution to show that life is only the
result of natural processes by "pure chance". It has been described as a "manifesto of materialist
biology in the most reductivist sense".[1] The basic tenet of this book is that systems in nature
with molecular biology, such as enzymatic biofeedback loops can be explained without having to
invoke final causality.
Contents
[hide]

 1 Telenomic

 2 Inspiration

 3 Awards

 4 Summary

o 4.1 Of strange objects

o 4.2 Vitalisms and animisms

o 4.3 The demon of Maxwell

o 4.4 Microscopic cybernetics

o 4.5 Molecular ontogeny

o 4.6 Invariance and perturbation

o 4.7 Evolution

o 4.8 The boundary

o 4.9 The Kingdom and darkness

 5 Biography

Telenomic[edit]

In this book, Monod adopted the term teleonomic to permit recognition of purpose in biology without
appealing to a final cause.

Inspiration[edit]

According to the introduction the book's title was inspired by a line attributed to Democritus,
"Everything existing in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity."

Awards[edit]

The first U.S. edition (New York: Vintage, 1971), translated by Austryn Wainhouse, won the National
Book Award in category Translation.[2]
Summary[edit]

Monod starts the preface of the book by saying that biology is both marginal and central. He goes on
to explain that it is marginal because the living world is only a fraction of the universe. Monod
believes the ultimate aim of science is to "clarify man's relationship to the universe"(Monod, xi) and
from that reasoning he accords biology a central role. He goes on to state that he does not intend to
make a thorough survey of modern biology but rather to "bring out the form of its key concepts and to
point out their logical relationships with other areas of thought…it is an avowed attempt to extract the
quintessence of the molecular theory of the code" (Monod, xiii). Monod stresses the importance of
the molecular theory of the genetic code as a physical theory of heredity and brands it as the "secret
of life". He continues to explain how this important discovery has made it the duty of scientists to
share with and enhance other disciplines of thought such as philosophy. Toward the end of the
preface Monod offers apology for any overly tedious or technical sections. He also warns that some
ethical and political ideas he presents may seem naïve or ambitious but then states "Modesty
benefits the scientist, but not the ideas that inhabit him and which he is under the obligation of
upholding"(Monod, xiv). In the last paragraph of the preface Monod explains that his essay
developed from the Robins Lectures that he gave in 1969 at Pomona College.

Of strange objects[edit]
Monod starts off chapter I entitled "Of Strange Objects" with a consideration of the difference
between natural and artificial objects and states that "the basic premise of the scientific method... [is]
that nature is objective and not projective"(Monod, 3). Through a series of thought experiments and
rhetorical questions he leads the reader on a difficult path to three characteristics of living beings.
One is teleonomy which Monod defines as the characteristic of being "endowed with a purpose or
project"(Monod, 9). Another is autonomous morphogenesis which points out that a living being‟s
structure results from interactions within the being as opposed to the external forces that shape
artificial artifacts. Monod offers a single exception to this last criterium in the form of a crystal and at
this point he states that the internal forces that determine structure within living beings are "of the
same nature as the microscopic interactions responsible for crystalline morphologies"(Monod, 11), a
theme that he promises to develop in later chapters. The last general property Monod offers up as
distinguishing living organisms is reproductive invariance which is the ability of a living being to
reproduce and transmit the information corresponding to their own highly ordered structure. The
author defines the primary telonomic project "as consisting in the transmission from generation to
generation of the invariance content characteristic of the species"(Monod, 14) (the preservation and
multiplication of the species). Monod later retracts autonomous morphogenesis (spontaneous
structuration) as a property of living beings and says instead that it should be thought of as
"mechanism" leaving two essential properties of living beings: reproductive invariance and structural
teleonomy. He then brings up and defends against a possible thermodynamic objection to
reproductive invariance and points out the extreme efficiency of the teleonomic apparatus in
accomplishing the preservation and reproduction of the structure. Here the author restates that
nature is objective and does not pursue an end or have a purpose and he points out an apparent
"epistemological [the study of the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge]
contradiction" between the teleonomic character of living organisms and the principle of objectivity.
With that cliffhanger of internal intellectual struggle Monod ends chapter one.

Vitalisms and animisms[edit]

In chapter two "Vitalisms and Animisms" Monod states that invariance must have preceded
teleonomy, a conclusion reached by the Darwinian idea that teleonomic structures are due to
variations in structures that already had the property of invariance and could therefore preserve the
effects of chance mutations. He offers the selective theory as being consistent with the postulate of
objectivity and allowing for epistemological coherence. The author then says that in the rest of the
chapter he will address religious ideologies and philosophical systems that assume the reverse
hypothesis: that invariance developed out of an initial teleonomic principle (this defies the principle of
objectivity). He divides these theories into vitalist, in which the teleonomic principle operates only in
living matter (there is a purpose/direction in which living things alone develop), and animist, in which
there is a universal teleonomic principle (that is expressed more intensely in the biosphere and
therefore living beings are seen as products of universally oriented evolution which has culminated in
mankind). Monod admits he is more interested in animism and will therefore devote more analysis to
it. He briefly discuses the murky metaphysical vitalism of Henri Bergson and then discusses the
scientific vitalism of Elsasser and Polanyi which contend that physical forces and chemical
interactions that have been studied in non-living matter do not fully account for invariance and
teleonomy and therefore other "biotonic laws" are at work in living matter. The author points out that
the scientific vitalist argument lack support and that it draws its justification not from knowledge or
observations but from our present day lack of knowledge. He goes on to point out that today the
mechanism of invariance is sufficiently understood to the point that no non-physical principle
("biotonic law") is needed for its interpretation. Monod next points out that our ancestors had a history
of animating objects by giving spirits to them so as to bridge the apparent gap between the living and
non-living. To them a being made sense and was understandable only through the purpose
animating the being and so if mysterious objects, such as rocks, rivers, rain, and stars, exist it must
also be for a purpose (essentially there are no inanimate objects to them). The author says that this
animist belief is due to a projection of man's awareness of his own teleonomic functioning onto
inanimate nature. Nature is explained with the same conscious and purposive manner as human
activity. Monod points out that this animist line of thought is still present in philosophy that makes no
essential distinction between matter and life and frames biological evolution as a component of
cosmic evolution (evolutive force operating throughout the entire universe). He contends that these
lines of thought abandon the postulate of objectivity and also contain the anthropocentric illusion. At
the end of this chapter Monod states that the thesis he "shall present in this book is that the
biosphere does not contain a predictable class of objects or of events but constitutes a particular
occurrence, compatible indeed with first principles, but not deducible from those principles and
therefore essentially unpredictable" (Monod, 43). In his view the biosphere is unpredictable for the
same reason that the particular configuration of atoms in a pebble are unpredictable. By this Monod
does not mean to imply that the biosphere is not explicable from initial conditions/first principles but
that it is not deducible (at best predictions could be no more than statistical probabilities of
existence). He then points out that society is willing to accept a universal theory that is compatible
with but does not foresee the particular configuration of atoms in a pebble but it is a different story
when it comes to humans; "We would like to think ourselves necessary, inevitable, ordained from all
eternity. All religions, nearly all philosophies, and even a part of science testify to the unwearying,
heroic effort of mankind desperately denying its own contingency" (Monod, 44). It is this contingency
of human existence that is the central message of Chance and Necessity; that life arose by chance
and all beings of life, including humans, are the products of natural selection.

The demon of Maxwell[edit]

The third chapter is named "Maxwell's Demons". It starts off by stating that proteins are the molecular
agents of teleonomic performance in living beings. Monod continues by writing that living beings are
chemical machines, every organism constitutes a coherent and functional unit, and that the organism
is a self-constructing machine whose macroscopic structure is not determined by outside forces but
by autonomous internal interactions. The author spends much of the chapter reviewing general facts
of biochemistry. He explains that proteins are composed of 100-10,000 amino acids and he
distinguishes between elongated fibrous proteins that play a mechanical role and the more numerous
globular proteins that are folded upon themselves. He talks about the extraordinary specificity of
action that enzymes display as exemplified by their ability to not only recognize a specific geometric
isomer but an optical isomer as well. He points out that enzymes are optically active themselves, L
isomers are the "natural" isomers, and that the specificity of action and the sterospecificity of the
reaction conducted by an enzyme are the result of the positioning of the molecules with respect to
each other. Monod writes that an enzymatic reaction can be seen in two steps: The formation of a
sterospecific complex between protein and substrate and the catalytic activation of a reaction within
the complex (he stresses again that the reaction is oriented and specified by the structure of the
complex). He next considers the energetic differences between covalent and non-covalent bonds
and how the speed of a reaction is affected by activation energy. Since the activation energy of a
covalent bond is high the reaction will have a slower speed than that of a non-covalent bond (which
occurs spontaneously and rapidly). The author points out that non-covalent interactions attain
stability only through numerous interactions and when applied over short distances. To attain stable
non-covalent interaction there is a need for complementary sites between two interacting molecules
so as to permit several atoms of the one to enter into contact with several atoms of the other. In this
complex the molecule of substrate is strictly positioned by the multiple non-covalent interactions with
the enzyme. Enzymatic catalysis is believed to result from the inductive and polarizing action of
certain chemical groupings of the specific receptor. By virtue of an enzymes capacity to form
sterospecific and non-covalent complexes with specific substrate the substrate is correctly presented
in the precise orientation that specifies the catalytic effect of the enzyme. Monod reminds us that this
reaction comes at the expense of chemical potential energy.

Microscopic cybernetics[edit]
In chapter four ("Microscopic Cybernetics") the author starts out by repeating the characteristic of
extreme specificity of enzymes and the extreme efficiency of the chemical machinery in living
organisms. The large scale coordination among cells provided by the nervous and endocrine system
is brought to the readers‟ attention. The rest of the chapter is a discussion of the principles that cell
metabolism works by. Monod first brings up allosteric enzymes that are capable of recognizing
compounds other than a substrate whose association with the enzyme protein has a modifying effect
of heightening or inhibiting the enzyme activity with respect to the substrate. Monod lists and defines
four regulatory patterns. The first is feedback inhibition. Feedback activation is when the enzyme is
activated by a product of degradation of the terminal metabolite. Parallel activation takes place when
the first enzyme of a metabolic sequence is activated by a metabolite synthesized by an independent
parallel sequence. Activation through a precursor is defined as when an enzyme is activated by a
precursor of its substrate and a particularly frequent case of this is activation of the enzyme by the
substrate itself. Allosteric enzymes are usually under the simultaneous control of several allosteric
effectors. Next Monod makes reference to his own research and talks about the S shaped non-linear
curve that is characteristic of allosteric enzymes when activity is plotted against concentration of an
effector (including the substrate). Allosteric interactions are mediated by discrete shifts in the proteins
structure and this allows certain proteins to assume different conformational states. Cooperative and
antagonistic interactions of ligands are indirect: ligands interact with the protein not with other
ligands. Allosteric proteins are oligomeric (made up of identical protomer subunits) and each
protomer has a receptor for each of the ligands. As a consequence of protomer assembly each
subunit is constrained by its neighbor. Upon dissociation each protomer can assume a relaxed state
and this concerted response of each protomer accounts for the nonlinearity of enzyme activity: a
ligand molecule that stabilizes the relaxed state of one of the monomers prevents the others from
returning to the associated state. These simple molecular mechanisms account for the integrative
properties of allosteric enzymes. Monod again references his own work as he talks about the lactose
system (consisting of three proteins) in Escherica coli. He explains that galactoside permease (one of
the proteins in the lactose system) enables the galactoside sugars to penetrate and accumulate
within the cell. When Escherica coli are grown in a medium with no galactosides the three proteins
are synthesized very slowly (about one molecule every five generations). About two minutes after
adding a galactoside inducer the rate of synthesis of the three proteins increases a thousand fold.
Monod explains that the rate of mRNA synthesis from the lactose operon determines the rate of the
proteins synthesis. He lists the components of the regulatory system as i, the regulator gene that
directs constant synthesis of the repressor protein (R), o, the operator segment of DNA that the
repressor specifically recognizes and forms a stable complex with, and p, the DNA promoter where
RNA polymerase binds. Synthesis of mRNA is blocked when the repressor is bound to the operator.
When the repressor is in the free state it is able to recognize and bind beta galactosides thus
dissociating the operator repressor complex and permitting synthesis of the mRNA and protein.
Monod spends some time stressing that there need be no chemical relationship between a substrate
and an allosteric ligand and it is this "gratuity" that has allowed molecular evolution to make a huge
network of interconnections and make each organism an autonomous functional unit. In the last part
of the chapter Monod criticizes "holists" who challenge the value to analytically complex systems
such as living organisms and that complex systems cannot be reduced to the sum of their parts.
Monod first gives an example of dissecting a computer and then points out how teleonomic
performances can be seen on a molecular level. He also states that the complexity of the cybernetic
network in living beings is far too complex to study by the overall behavior of whole organisms.

Molecular ontogeny[edit]
At the start of chapter five "Molecular Ontogenesis" Monod states he will show that the process of
spontaneous autonomous morphogenesis depends upon "the sterospecific recognition properties of
proteins; that it is primarily a microscopic process before manifesting itself in macroscopic structures.
Finally, it is the primary structure of proteins that we shall consult for the "secret" to those cognitive
properties thanks to which, like Maxwell's demons, they animate and build living systems" (Monod
81). Monod mentions oligomeric globular proteins again and how they appear in aggregates
containing geometrically equivalent protomer subunits associated into a non-covalent steric complex.
With mild treatment protomers are separated and the oligomer protein loses function but if the initial
"normal" conditions are restored the subunits will usually reassemble spontaneously. This
spontaneity is due to the fact that the chemical potential needed to form the oligomer is present in the
solution of monomers and because the bonds formed are non-covalent. The author continues to
mention the sterospecific, spontaneous assembly of ribosomes and T4 bacteriophage from their
protein constituents in vitro. Monod points out that the overall scheme/architectural plan of the multi-
molecular complex is contained in the structure of its constituent parts and it is therefore able to
spontaneously self assemble. Next Monod reviews the primary and tertiary structure of proteins. In
reviewing the tertiary structure, what he calls the native shape, he talks about the non-covalent
interactions which bind the amino acids and the folding that determines the molecules three
dimensional shape including the sterospecific binding site. The author then writes that a primary
structure exists in a single (or a small number of related states, as is the case with allosteric proteins)
precisely defined conformational native state under normal physiological conditions. Prior to folding
there is no biological activity. The sequence of the amino acid residues and the initial conditions
determine the protein folding and therefore dictate the function. Monod splits up organism
development into four broad stages: First the folding of the polypeptide sequence into globular
proteins, then the association between proteins into organelles, thirdly the interactions between cells
that make up tissue and organs, and lastly "coordination and differentiation of chemical activities via
allosteric-type interactions" (Monod,95). Each stage is more highly ordered and results from
spontaneous interactions between products of the previous stage and the initial source is the genetic
information represented by the polypeptide sequences. The author then spends some time
developing the fact that the preceding sequence of amino acids had no bearing on what the next
amino acid will be. He says this "random" message seems to be composed haphazardly from a
random origin and he ends the chapter poetically when he writes "Randomness caught on the wing,
preserved, reproduced by the machinery of invariance and thus converted into order, rule, and
necessity. A totally blind process can by definition lead to anything; it can even lead to vision itself"
(Monod 98).

Invariance and perturbation[edit]

Chapter six is entitled "Invariance and Perturbations”. The similarity throughout all organisms of
chemical machinery in both structure and function is set out. In regards to structure, all living beings
are made up of proteins and nucleic acids and these are the same residues (twenty amino acids and
four nucleotides). Similar functions are carried out by the same sequence of reactions that appear in
all organisms for essential chemical operations (some variations exist that consist of new utilizations
of universal metabolic sequences). On page 104 Monod states "The fundamental biological invariant
is DNA. That is why Mendel's definition of the gene as the unvarying bearer of hereditary traits, its
chemical identification by Avery (confirmed by Hershey), and the elucidation by Watson and Crick of
the structural basis of its replicative invariance, without any doubt constitute the most important
discoveries ever made in biology." He adds that the full significance of the theory of natural selection
was established by these discoveries. There is a brief review of DNA whose structure is a helix with
translational and rotational symmetry and if artificially separated the complementary strands will
spontaneously reform. A very brief review of DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase is given. The
sequence of nucleotides in DNA defines the sequence of amino acids which in turn defines the
folding of proteins which in turn defines an organism; "One must regard the total organism as the
ultimate epigenetic expression of the genetic message itself" (Monod, 109). The author makes the
point that translation is irreversible and never takes place from protein to DNA. In the last part of the
chapter the author brings up the important subject of mutations. Various mutations such as
substitutions, deletions, and inversions are listed. The accidental random chance of these mutations
and that these unpredictable mutations alone that are the source of evolution is pointed out and
exemplified. The "error" in the genetic message will be replicated with a high degree of fidelity. In the
words of Monod "the same source of fortuitous perturbations, of „noise‟...is the progenitor of evolution
in the biosphere and accounts for its unrestricted liberty of creation, thanks to the replicative structure
of DNA: that registry of chance, that tone-deaf conservatory where the noise is preserved along with
the music" (Monod, 117).

Evolution[edit]
That mutations are unpredictable, faithfully replicated, and that natural selection operates only upon
the products of chance is repeated at the start of chapter seven entitled "Evolution". Monod states
that the decisive factor in natural selection is not the "struggle for life" but is the differential rate of
reproduction and the only mutations "acceptable" to an organism are those that "do not lessen the
coherence of the teleonomic apparatus, but rather, further strengthen it in its already assumed
orientation" (Monod, 119). Monod explains that the teleonomic performance is judged through natural
selection and this system retains only a very small fraction of mutations that will perfect and enrich
the teleonomic apparatus. Monod gives the example of antibody development to show how chance
combinations can give a well defined solution. He states that the source of information for the
antibodies associative structure is not the antigen itself but is instead the result of many random
recombinations of part of the antibody gene. The antibody that is able to bind to the antigen is
multiplied. This remarkable example shows chance as the basis for one of the most precise
adaptation phenomena. Monod makes the point that selection of a mutation is due to the
environmental surroundings of the organism and the teleonomic performances. He then gives some
examples to show the interconnection of specific performances/behaviors and anatomical
adaptations. The author spends the rest of the chapter discussing linguistic and physical human
evolutionary development. Language is an utterly different from the various auditory, tactile, and
visual forms of communication in that it allows the communication of an original personal association
to another individual. Monod hypothesizes that language was not merely the product but one of the
driving forces for the evolution of our central nervous system. He believes that rudimentary symbolic
communication appeared early on and created a new selective pressure that favored development of
linguistic ability and hence the brain. He then talks about the evolution of our ancestors including the
development of upright posture which allowed them to become hunters. Monod lastly points out the
evidence to suggest the development of the cognitive function of language in children depends upon
postnatal growth of the cortex.

The boundary[edit]
In chapter eight "The Frontiers" Monod captures the sense of wonderment one feels when
considering the extraordinary diversity and complexity of organisms that has been brought about
through billions of years of evolution when he says " The miracle stands "explained"; it does not
strike us as any less miraculous" (Monod, 138). Three stages which led to the emergence of the first
organism are proposed. First there must have been the formation of nucleotides and amino acids
from simple carbon compounds and non-biological catalysts. Next would have been the formation of
the first macromolecules capable of replication probably through spontaneous base pairing. And
lastly the evolution of a teleonomic apparatus around the "replicative structures" would lead to the
primitive cell. The author next turns his attention to the central nervous system. He lists the prime
functions of the brain in mammals as control and coordination of neuromuscular activity, to set into
action innate programs of action in response to stimuli, to integrate sensory inputs, to register, group,
and associate significant events, and to represent and simulate. Monod makes the point that
behavior cannot be strictly separated as learned or innate since elements are acquired through
experience according to an innate program and "the programs structure initiates and guides early
learning, which will follow a certain pre-established pattern defined by the species' genetic patrimony"
(Monod, 153). The author now concentrates on what he views as one of the unique properties of
higher level organisms, namely that of simulating experience subjectively so as to anticipate results
and prepare action. Monod describes as "the frontier" the work that is to be done that will enable us
to understand how this instrument of intuitive preconception works. He believes this understanding
will enable mankind to eliminate the dualism of differentiating between the brain and the mind. He
ends the chapter stating "To give up the illusion that sees in it an immaterial "substance" is not to
deny the existence of the soul, but on the contrary to begin to recognize the complexity, the richness,
the unfathomable profoundity of the genetic and cultural heritage and of the personal experience,
conscious or otherwise, which together constitute this being of ours” (Monod, 159).

The Kingdom and darkness[edit]

The last chapter in the book is “The Kingdom and the Darkness”. Once man extended his domain
over the subhuman sphere and dominated his environment the main threat became other men and
tribal warfare came to be an important evolutionary selection factor and this would favor group
cohesion. Cultural evolution affected physical evolution; “it is behavior that orients selective pressure”
(Monod, 162). The author then says that due to the accelerating pace of cultural evolution, it no
longer affects the genome and that selection does not favor the genetic survival of the fittest through
a more numerous progeny. He brings up statistics that show a negative correlation between
intelligence and the average number of children per couple and a positive correlation of intelligence
between spouses which concentrates them among a shrinking elite. He also points to scientific and
ethical advances that have allowed “genetic cripples” to live and reproduce (the author regards this
as suspending natural selection). Monod says this suspension of natural selection is a peril to the
species but that it will take quite a while for any serious effects and that there are more urgent
dangers in modern society. He advances the idea “that nature is objective, that the systematic
confronting of logic and experience is the sole source of true knowledge” (Monod, 165). He talks
briefly about how ideas are selected based on the performance value and the spreading power (he
states that ideas that explain man by assigning him a destiny spread the most). The author believes
that we contain an inborn genetic need to search out the meaning of existence and that is
responsible for the creation of myths, religion, and philosophy. He implies that this genetic
component accounts for religion being the base of social structure and the reoccurrence of the same
essential form in myths, religion, and philosophy. He admits that the idea of objective knowledge as
the only source of truth may seem austere and unattractive in that it does not provide an explanation
that will calm the anxiety of man; “It wrote an end to the ancient animist covenant between man and
nature, leaving nothing in place of that precious bond but an anxious quest in a frozen universe of
solitude” (Monod, 170). The author points to what he sees as the acceptance of objective science in
practice but not in spirit. He says that the important message of science is that in the defining of a
new source of truth which demands revision of ethical premises and a total break with the animist
tradition. Our values are rooted in animism and are at odds with objective knowledge and truth. This
jarring and isolating revelation places value judgments within the hands of man himself. Monod
believes that objective truth and the theory of values cannot be separated “because the very
definition of “true” knowledge reposes in the final analysis upon an ethical postulate” (Monod, 173). It
is at this point that author‟s argument turns upon itself by admitting that making objectivity the
condition for true knowledge, which helps to separate value judgments from true knowledge and
define science, is itself an axiomatic ethical choice. By asserting the principle of objectivity, which is
accepted in modern science, one is choosing to adhere to what Monod calls the ethic of knowledge.
The author proposes that man should rise above his need for explanation and fear of solitude to
accept the ethic of knowledge and frames this ethic as accepting both the animal and ideal in man.
Jacques Monod ends the book with his fundamental conclusion that “The ancient covenant is in
pieces; man knows at last that he is alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity, out of which he
emerged only by chance. His destiny is nowhere spelled out, nor is his duty. The kingdom above or
the darkness below; it is for him to choose” (Monod, 180).

Biography