Publicado 2025-08-22
Palabras clave
- Milne-Edwards,
- Spencer,
- Adam Smith,
- división del trabajo,
- metáfora
- biología,
- economía política,
- ciencias sociales,
- darwinismo,
- ciencias de la vida ...Más
Derechos de autor 2025 Tópicos, Revista de Filosofía

Esta obra está bajo una licencia internacional Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0.
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Resumen
En las últimas décadas, numerosos autores han reivindicado la importancia de la metáfora a nivel cognitivo y científico. En esta línea, este artículo realiza un análisis histórico y filosófico de la metáfora de la división del trabajo en las teorías de Henri Milne-Edwards y Herbert Spencer. Si bien es cierto que las relaciones metafóricas entre la biología y las ciencias sociales han suscitado interés filosófico e historiográfico, por lo general, la reflexión se ha enfocado en la transferencia metafórica de conceptos biológicos al pensamiento social y económico-político. En cambio, este artículo apoya la hipótesis de que la influencia fue recíproca; explora cómo un concepto intrínseco a la economía política (la división del trabajo) se convirtió, a lo largo del siglo XIX, en una metáfora prolífica para las ciencias biológicas. A diferencia de investigaciones anteriores que evaluaron principalmente cómo la economía clásica y liberal influyó en la teoría darwiniana, este artículo observa cómo el concepto político-económico de la división del trabajo jugó un papel significativo en las ciencias de la vida del siglo XIX.
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