 |


|
 |
Item Details
Title:
|
WHAT FUNCTIONS EXPLAIN
FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATION AND SELF-REPRODUCING SYSTEMS |
By: |
Peter McLaughlin |
Format: |
Electronic book text |

List price:
|
£85.00 |
We currently do not stock this item, please contact the publisher directly for
further information.
|
|
|
|
|
ISBN 10: |
0511498519 |
ISBN 13: |
9780511498510 |
Publisher: |
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS |
Pub. date: |
12 August, 2009 |
Series: |
Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology |
Description: |
This 2001 book provides a sophisticated and detailed Aristotelian analysis of our concept of natural functions. |
Synopsis: |
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. |
Publication: |
UK |
Imprint: |
Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) |
Returns: |
Non-returnable |
|
|
|
 |


|

|

|

|

|
No Cheese, Please!
A fun picture book for children with food allergies - full of friendship and super-cute characters!Little Mo the mouse is having a birthday party.

|
My Brother Is a Superhero
Luke is massively annoyed about this, but when Zack is kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Luke and his friends have only five days to find him and save the world...

|

|

|
|
 |