What Functions Explain: Functional Explanation and Self-Reproducing Systems

Peter McLaughlin

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511498510

This 2001 book offers an examination of functional explanation as it is used in biology and the social sciences, and focuses on the kinds of philosophical presuppositions that such explanations carry with them. It tackles such questions as: why are some things explained functionally while others are not? What do the functional explanations tell us about how these objects are conceptualized? What do we commit ourselves to when we give and take functional explanations in the life sciences and the social sciences? McLaughlin gives a critical review of the debate on functional explanation in the philosophy of science. He discusses the history of the philosophical question of teleology, and provides a comprehensive review of the post-war literature on functional explanation. What Functions Explain provides a sophisticated and detailed Aristotelian analysis of our concept of natural functions, and offers a positive contribution to the ongoing debate on the topic.

'McLaughlin has given us an original and daring account of functional explanation … [his] fascinating account of organisms as self-maintaining systems is important …'

Source: Acta Biotheoretica

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-viii
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Contents
pp ix-x
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Acknowledgments
pp xi-xii
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PART I - FUNCTIONS AND INTENTIONS
pp 1-2
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1 - Introduction
pp 3-15
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2 - The Problem of Teleology
pp 16-41
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3 - Intentions and the Functions of Artifacts
pp 42-62
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PART II - THE ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATION
pp 63-64
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4 - Basic Positions in Philosophy of Science: Hempel and Nagel
pp 65-81
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5 - The Etiological View
pp 82-117
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6 - The Dispositional View
pp 118-138
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PART III - SELF-REPRODUCING SYSTEMS
pp 139-141
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7 - Artifacts and Organisms
pp 142-161
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8 - Feedback Mechanisms and Their Beneficiaries
pp 162-190
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9 - Having a Good
pp 191-204
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10 - What Functions Explain
pp 205-214
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Notes
pp 215-236
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Bibliography
pp 237-254
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Index
pp 255-259
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What Functions Explain

Functional Explanation and Self-Reproducing Systems

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-viii

Contents
pp ix-x

Acknowledgments
pp xi-xii

PART I - FUNCTIONS AND INTENTIONS
pp 1-2

1 - Introduction
pp 3-15

2 - The Problem of Teleology
pp 16-41

3 - Intentions and the Functions of Artifacts
pp 42-62

PART II - THE ANALYSIS OF FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATION
pp 63-64

4 - Basic Positions in Philosophy of Science: Hempel and Nagel
pp 65-81

5 - The Etiological View
pp 82-117

6 - The Dispositional View
pp 118-138

PART III - SELF-REPRODUCING SYSTEMS
pp 139-141

7 - Artifacts and Organisms
pp 142-161

8 - Feedback Mechanisms and Their Beneficiaries
pp 162-190

9 - Having a Good
pp 191-204

10 - What Functions Explain
pp 205-214

Notes
pp 215-236

Bibliography
pp 237-254

Index
pp 255-259

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What Functions Explain

Functional Explanation and Self-Reproducing Systems

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