Abstract
Formulations of the essential commitment of the etiological theory of functions have varied significantly, with some individual authors' formulations even varying from one place to another. The logical geography of these various formulations is different from what is standardly assumed; for they are not stylistic variants of the same essential commitment, but stylistic variants of two non-equivalent versions of the etiological theory. I distinguish these “strong” and “weak” versions of the etiological theory (which differ with respect to the role of selection in their definitions of function), draw out their respective implications, and argue that the weak version is to be preferred to the strong.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allen, C. and Bekoff, M.: 1995, 'Biological Function, Adaptation, and Natural Design', Philosophy of Science 62, 609–622.
Amundson, R. and Lauder, G.V.: 1994, 'Function Without Purpose: The Uses of Causal Role Function in Evolutionary Biology', Biology and Philosophy 9, 443–469.
Baker, R.R. and Bellis, M.A.: 1995, Human Sperm Competition: Copulation, Masturbation, and Infidelity, Chapman & Hall, New York.
Brandon, R.N.: 1990, Adaptation and Environment, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Buller, D.J.: 1997, 'Individualism and Evolutionary Psychology (or: In Defense of “Narrow” Functions)', Philosophy of Science 64, 74–95.
Crow, J.F.: 1979, 'Genes that Violate Mendel's Rules', Scientific American 240(2), 134–146.
Cummins, R.: 1975, 'Functional Analysis', Journal of Philosophy 72, 741–765.
Endler, J.A.: 1986, Natural Selection in the Wild, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Godfrey-Smith, P.: 1993, 'Functions: Consensus Without Unity', Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 74, 196–208.
Godfrey-Smith, P.: 1994, 'A Modern History Theory of Functions', Noûs 28, 344–362.
Gould, S.J. and Lewontin, R.C.: 1979, 'The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 205, 581–598.
Griffiths, P.E.: 1993, 'Functional Analysis and Proper Function', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 44, 409–422.
Kitcher, P.: 1993, 'Function and Design', Midwest Studies in Philosophy 18, 379–397.
Lyttle, T.W.: 1993, 'Cheaters Sometimes Prosper: Distortion of Mendelian Segregation by Meiotic Drive', Trends in Genetics 9, 205–210.
Maynard Smith, J.: 1993, The Theory of Evolution (Canto ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Mayr, E.: 1988, 'An Analysis of the Concept of Natural Selection', in Toward a New Philosophy of Biology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 95–115.
Millikan, R.G.: 1984, Language, Thought, and Other Biological Categories, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Millikan, R.G.: 1989a, 'An Ambiguity in the Notion “Function”', Biology and Philosophy 4, 172–176.
Millikan, R.G.: 1989b, 'In Defense of Proper Functions', Philosophy of Science 56, 288–302.
Millikan, R.G.: 1993, 'Propensities, Exaptations, and the Brain', in White Queen Psychology and Other Essays for Alice, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 31–50.
Mitchell, S.D.: 1995, 'Function, Fitness and Disposition', Biology and Philosophy 10, 39–54.
Neander, K.: 1991a, 'Functions as Selected Effects: The Conceptual Analyst's Defense', Philosophy of Science 58, 168–184.
Neander, K.: 1991b, 'The Teleological Notion of “Function”', Australasian Journal of Philosophy 69, 454–468.
Neander, K.: 1995, 'Pruning the Tree of Life', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46, 59–80.
Sivinski, J.: 1984, 'Sperm in Competition', in R.L. Smith (ed.), Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems, Academic Press, New York, pp. 85–115.
Sober, E.: 1984, The Nature of Selection, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Sober, E.: 1995, 'Natural Selection and Distributive Explanation: A Reply to Neander', British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 46, 384–397.
Walsh, D.M. and Ariew, A.: 1996, 'A Taxonomy of Functions', Canadian Journal of Philosophy 26, 493–514.
Williams, G.C.: 1966, Adaptation and Natural Selection, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Buller, D.J. Etiological Theories of Function: A Geographical Survey. Biology & Philosophy 13, 505–527 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006559512367
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006559512367