EAN: 9783319320182

SPRINGERBRIEFS IN PHILOSOPHY A CRITICAL OVERV...

This book is a critical survey of and guidebook to the literature on biological functions. It
ties in with current debates and developments  and at the same time  it looks back on the state
of discourse in naturalized teleology prior to the 1970s. It also presents three significant
new proposals. First  it describes the generalized selected effects theory  which is one
version of the selected effects theory  maintaining that the function of a trait consists in
the activity that led to its differential persistence or reproduction in a population  and not
merely its differential reproduction. Secondly  it advances within-discipline pluralism (as
opposed to between-discipline pluralism) a new form of function pluralism  which emphasizes the
coexistence of function concepts within diverse biological sub-disciplines. Lastly  it provides
a critical assessment of recent alternatives to the selected effects theory of function  namely
the weak etiological theory and the systems-theoretic theory. The book argues that  to the
extent that functions purport to offer causal explanations for the existence of a trait  there
are no viable alternatives to the selected effects view. The debate about biological functions
is still as relevant and important to biology and philosophy as it ever was. Recent
controversies surrounding the ENCODE Project Consortium in genetics  the nature of psychiatric
classification  and the value of ecological restoration  all point to the continuing relevance
to biology of philosophical discussion about the nature of functions. In philosophy  ongoing
debates about the nature of biological information  intentionality  health and disease 
mechanism  and even biological trait classification  are closely related to debates about
biological functions.

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