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Accepted manuscript

Functional Indeterminacy, Addiction, and the Harmful Dysfunction Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2025

Matthew Kern*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1073, Wilson Hall, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899.
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Abstract

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According to Jerome Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction account, a mental disorder must involve an objective dysfunction couched in evolutionary terms. However, selected effects functions are indeterminate, because (i) the same trait can be both selectively advantageous and disadvantageous and (ii) the functional activity of a trait can be assessed according to conflicting norms, given the trait’s place in a hierarchy of functions. Therefore, there may be a dysfunction that can be described in multiple empirically adequate ways. The choices involved in these cases are value-laden. Some cases of addiction may fit this mold, involving indeterminacy that invites opposing value judgments.

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Contributed Paper
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Philosophy of Science Association