Functions
New Essays in the Philosophy of Psychology and Biology
Published on 1. July 2002
Book
Hardback
458 pages
978-0-19-925580-1 (ISBN)
Description
Fifteen leading contributors to philosophy of psychology and philosophy of biology present new essays on functions, specially written for this volume. In explaining aspects of the natural world, including the aspects of mind, scientists have frequently used the concept of function. But what are functions? These essays illuminate this crucial but problematic concept, and will be fascinating reading for philosophers and scientists alike.
Reviews / Votes
a richly varied collection of essays which ... provides the reader with the opportunity for a sustained examination of the central issues concerning functions and their role in biology and psychology Graham Macdonald, Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
6 Diagramme
6 diagrams
ISBN-13
978-0-19-925580-1 (9780199255801)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Persons
Content
Introduction; 1. PLATONIC AND ARISTOTELIAN ROOTS OF TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENTS IN COSMOLOGY AND BIOLOGY; 2. Evolutionary Biology and Teleological Thinking; 3. A REBUTTAL ON FUNCTIONS; 4. Biofunctions: Two Paradigms; 5. On the Normativity of Functions; 6. Neo-Teleology; 7. Functional Organization, Analogy, and Inference; 8. Function and Design Revisited; 9. The Continuing Usefulness Account of Proper Function; 10. PAGAN TELEOLOGY: ADAPTATIONAL ROLE AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND; 11. Indeterminacy of Function Attributions; 12. Brentano's Chestnuts; 13. HUMAN RATIONALITY AND THE UNIQUE ORIGIN CONSTRAINT; 14. Real Traits, Real Functions?; 15. Types of Traits: Function, structure, and homology in the classification of traits; Biographies, Index