Selected effects and causal role functions in the brain: the case for an etiological approach to neuroscience
Biology and Philosophy 26 (4):547-565 (2011)
| Abstract | Despite the voluminous literature on biological functions produced over the last 40 years, few philosophers have studied the concept of function as it is used in neuroscience. Recently, Craver (forthcoming; also see Craver 2001) defended the causal role theory against the selected effects theory as the most appropriate theory of function for neuroscience. The following argues that though neuroscientists do study causal role functions, the scope of that theory is not as universal as claimed. Despite the strong prima facie superiority of the causal role theory, the selected effects theory (when properly developed) can handle many cases from neuroscience with equal facility. It argues this by presenting a new theory of function that generalizes the notion of a ‘selection process’ to include processes such as neural selection, antibody selection, and some forms of learning—that is, to include structures that have been differentially retained as well as those that have been differentially reproduced. This view, called the generalized selected effects theory of function, will be defended from criticism and distinguished from similar views in the literature | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesKaren Neander (1991). Functions as Selected Effects: The Conceptual Analyst's Defense. Philosophy of Science 58 (2):168-184.
Ron Amundson & George V. Lauder (1994). Function Without Purpose. Biology and Philosophy 9 (4):443-469.
Benoni B. Edin (2008). Assigning Biological Functions: Making Sense of Causal Chains. Synthese 161 (2):203 - 218.
Michael R. Dietrich & Roberta L. Millstein (2008). The Role of Causal Processes in the Neutral and Nearly Neutral Theories. Philosophy of Science 75 (5):548-559.
Carl F. Craver (2001). Role Functions, Mechanisms, and Hierarchy. Philosophy of Science 68 (1):53-74.
Peter H. Schwartz (1999). Proper Function and Recent Selection. Philosophy of Science 66 (3):222.
Rob Pranger (1990). Towards a Pluralistic Concept of Function Function Statements in Biology. Acta Biotheoretica 38 (1).
Adela Helena Roszkowski (2010). Natural Selection and the Unity of Functional Analyses. Philosophy of Science 77 (4):633-645.
Pieter E. Vermaas & Wybo Houkes (2003). Ascribing Functions to Technical Artefacts: A Challenge to Etiological Accounts of Functions. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 54 (2):261-289.
Berent Enc & Fred Adams (1992). Functions and Goal Directedness. Philosophy of Science 59 (4):635-654.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-03-23Total downloads33 ( #36,590 of 549,128 )Recent downloads (6 months)5 ( #15,205 of 549,128 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
