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Against Organizational Functions

Garson, Justin (2017) Against Organizational Functions. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Over the last 20 years, several philosophers developed a new approach to biological functions, the organizational (or systems-theoretic) approach. This is not a single theory but a family of theories based on the idea that a trait token can acquire a function by virtue of the way it contributes to a complex, organized, system, and thereby to its own continued persistence, as a token. I argue that the organizational approach faces a serious liberality objection. I examine three different ways organizational theorists have tried to avoid that objection and show how they fail.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Garson, Justin
Keywords: Philosophy of biology; biological function; organizational functions; systems theory; selected effects
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology
Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Specific Sciences > Medicine > Psychiatry
Specific Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User: Dr. Justin Garson
Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2017 00:38
Last Modified: 27 May 2019 10:08
Item ID: 12757
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Biology
Specific Sciences > Biology > Function/Teleology
Specific Sciences > Neuroscience
Specific Sciences > Medicine > Psychiatry
Specific Sciences > Psychology
Date: December 2017
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12757

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