New perspectives on artifactual and biological functions

Applied ontology 11 (2):89-102 (2016)
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Abstract

In this essay I introduce the question of artifactual functions in the context of the recent debate on the notion of function. I discuss some of the desiderata a satisfactory account should fulfill and compare them to the desiderata for a theory of biological functions. Finally, within this general framework, I briefly present the three papers included in this volume.

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10.3233/ao-160166

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Philosophical perspectives on organismic and artifactual functions.Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
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How biological, cultural, and intended functions combine.Françoise Longy - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
A device-oriented definition of functions of artifacts and its perspectives.Yoshinobu Kitamura & Riichiro Mizoguchi - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
Biological and cultural proper functions in comparative perspective.Beth Preston - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
Functions and norms.Peter McLaughlin - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
The inherent normativity of functions in biology and technology.Maarten Franssen - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
Conceptual conservatism : The case of normative functions.Paul Sheldon Davies - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
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Innovation and population.Tim Lewens - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
Realism and artifact kinds.Marzia Soavi - 2009 - In Ulrich Krohs & Peter Kroes (eds.), Functions in Biological and Artificial Worlds: Comparative Philosophical Perspectives. MIT Press.
Functions as Epistemic Highlighters: An Engineering Account of Technical, Biological and Other Functions.Pieter E. Vermaas & Wybo Houkes - 2013 - In Philippe Huneman (ed.), Functions: Selection and Mechanisms. Springer. pp. 213--231.
Function by Agreement.Pablo Schyfter - 2015 - Social Epistemology 29 (2):185-206.

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Marc Artiga
Universitat De València

Citations of this work

Are There Teleological Functions to Compute?Dimitri Coelho Mollo - 2019 - Philosophy of Science 86 (3):431-452.
Against Computational Perspectivalism.Dimitri Coelho Mollo - 2021 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (4):1129-1153.

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References found in this work

The extended mind.Andy Clark & David J. Chalmers - 1998 - Analysis 58 (1):7-19.
Functional analysis.Robert E. Cummins - 1975 - Journal of Philosophy 72 (November):741-64.
Functions.Larry Wright - 1973 - Philosophical Review 82 (2):139-168.
In defense of proper functions.Ruth Millikan - 1989 - Philosophy of Science 56 (June):288-302.

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