The immune self: theory or metaphor?

TLDR

Immunology arose from Darwinian ideas that species are dynamic, raising questions about organism identity. The study investigates the concept of self in immunity, tracing its evolution from Metchnikoff's theory of identity pursuit. The author examines the self by reviewing historical theories, especially Metchnikoff's view that immunity actively pursues identity.

Abstract

Immunology is one of the unique products of the darwinian age--born in the controversies of that fresh announcement that all species, including ourselves, were not static entities, but subject to change as a result of the vicissitudes of time and circumstance. Darwinism postulated an everchanging species defined by evolutionary necessity. In this scheme, the organism is not given, but evolves. Always adapting, it is always changing. Thus, this raises the core issue of organismal identity as a problem. Here, Alfred Tauber explores the concept of self and traces the development of the term from Metchnikoff's theory that immunity resides in the active pursuit of identity.