WHAT FUNCTIONS EXPLAIN by Peter McLaughlin ( 9780521038850 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

WHAT FUNCTIONS EXPLAIN
FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATION AND SELF-REPRODUCING SYSTEMS

By:

Peter McLaughlin

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£43.99

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£38.49

Discount:

12.5% off

You save:

£5.50

ISBN 10:

0521038855

ISBN 13:

9780521038850

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Publisher:

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

16 August, 2007

Series:

Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology

Pages:

272

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:

Imprint:

Cambridge University Press

Returns:

Returnable

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