Results for 'Function'

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  1. The function of general laws in history.Carl Gustav Hempel - 1942 - Journal of Philosophy 39 (2):35-48.
    The classic logical positivist account of historical explanation, putting forward what is variously called the "regularity interpretation" (#Gardiner, The Nature of Historical Explanation), the "covering law model" (#Dray, Laws and Explanation in History), or the "deductive model" (Michael #Scriven, "Truisms as Grounds for Historical Explanations"). See also #Danto, Narration and Knowledge, for further criticisms of the model. Hempel formalizes historical explanation as involving (a) statements of determining (initial and boundary) conditions for the event to be explained, and (b) statements of (...)
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  2. Complexity and the Function of Mind in Nature.Peter Godfrey-Smith (ed.) - 1996 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
    This book explains the relationship between intelligence and environmental complexity, and in so doing links philosophy of mind to more general issues about the relations between organisms and environments, and to the general pattern of 'externalist' explanations. The author provides a biological approach to the investigation of mind and cognition in nature. In particular he explores the idea that the function of cognition is to enable agents to deal with environmental complexity. The history of the idea in the work (...)
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  3. Form, function and feel.William Lycan - 1981 - Journal of Philosophy 78 (January):24-50.
  4. The teleological notion of 'function'.Karen Neander - 1991 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 69 (4):454 – 468.
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  5. Function and Design.Philip Kitcher - 1993 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 18 (1):379-397.
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  6. Function and Concept.Gottlob Frege - 1997 - In David Hugh Mellor & Alex Oliver, Properties. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 130-149.
  7.  21
    Hemisphere Function in the Human Brain.Stuart J. Dimond & J. Graham Beaumont (eds.) - 1974 - Elek.
  8. The function of phenomenal states: Supramodular interaction theory.Ezequiel Morsella - 2005 - Psychological Review 112 (4):1000-1021.
  9. Nature, function, and capability: Aristotle on political distribution.Martha Craven Nussbaum - 1987 - Helsinki, Finland: World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University.
  10. What Is the Function of Confirmation Bias?Uwe Peters - 2022 - Erkenntnis 87 (3):1351-1376.
    Confirmation bias is one of the most widely discussed epistemically problematic cognitions, challenging reliable belief formation and the correction of inaccurate views. Given its problematic nature, it remains unclear why the bias evolved and is still with us today. To offer an explanation, several philosophers and scientists have argued that the bias is in fact adaptive. I critically discuss three recent proposals of this kind before developing a novel alternative, what I call the ‘reality-matching account’. According to the account, confirmation (...)
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  11.  51
    The function of consciousness or of information?David Navon - 1991 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14 (4):690-691.
  12.  33
    Frequent Preservation of Neurologic Function in Brain Death and Brainstem Death Entails False-Positive Misdiagnosis and Cerebral Perfusion.Michael Nair-Collins & Ari R. Joffe - 2023 - American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience 14 (3):255-268.
    Some patients who have been diagnosed as “dead by neurologic criteria” continue to exhibit certain brain functions, most commonly, neuroendocrine functions. This preservation of neurologic function after the diagnosis of “brain death” or “brainstem death” is an ongoing source of controversy and concern in the medical, bioethics, and legal literatures. Most obviously, if some brain function persists, then it is not the case that all functions of the entire brain have ceased and hence, declaring such a patient to (...)
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  13.  69
    Executive function is necessary for perspective selection, not Level-1 visual perspective calculation: Evidence from a dual-task study of adults.Adam W. Qureshi, Ian A. Apperly & Dana Samson - 2010 - Cognition 117 (2):230-236.
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  14. Structure, function, and protein taxonomy.William Goodwin - 2011 - Biology and Philosophy 26 (4):533-545.
    This paper considers two recent arguments that structure should not be regarded as the fundamental individuating property of proteins. By clarifying both what it might mean for certain properties to play a fundamental role in a classification scheme and the extent to which structure plays such a role in protein classification, I argue that both arguments are unsound. Because of its robustness, its importance in laboratory practice, and its explanatory centrality, primary structure should be regarded as the fundamental distinguishing characteristic (...)
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  15. Fundamental physical ontologies and the constraint of empirical coherence: a defense of wave function realism.Alyssa Ney - 2015 - Synthese 192 (10):3105-3124.
    This paper defends wave function realism against the charge that the view is empirically incoherent because our evidence for quantum theory involves facts about objects in three-dimensional space or space-time . It also criticizes previous attempts to defend wave function realism against this charge by claiming that the wave function is capable of grounding local beables as elements of a derivative ontology.
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  16.  99
    Brain function in coma, vegetative state, and related disorders.Steven Laureys, Adrian M. Owen & Nicholas D. Schiff - 2004 - Lancet Neurology 3:537-546.
  17. Residual function after brain wounds involving the central visual pathways in man.Ernst Poppel, R. Held & D. Frost - 1973 - Nature 243:295-96.
  18.  50
    Function, persistence, and selection: Generalizing the selected-effect account of function adequately.Pierrick Bourrat - 2021 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 90 (C):61-67.
  19. The Function of Sensory Awareness.Mark Johnston - 2006 - In Tamar Szabo Gendler & John Hawthorne, Perceptual experience. New York: Oxford University Press.
  20. How should we think about linguistic function?Amie L. Thomasson - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy.
    Talk of the functions of language or concepts plays a central role in developing an appealing pragmatic approach to conceptual engineering. But some have expressed skepticism that we can make any good sense of the idea of function as applied to concepts or language, or argued that the most we can say is that the function of ‘F’ is to refer to the Fs. In this paper, however, I argue that identifying linguistic functions is not hopeless, and that (...)
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  21.  86
    The Form and Function of Joint Attention within Joint Action.Michael Wilby - 2023 - Philosophical Psychology 36 (1):134-161.
    Joint attention is an everyday phenomenon in which two or more individuals attend to an object, event process or property in the presence of each other, such that their attention to that object is to some degree intertwined with the other’s attention to it. This paper argues that joint attention has the normative role of enabling subjects to coordinate their actions in a way that would contribute to the rational execution of a joint action in accordance with a prior shared (...)
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  22. How to Be a Function Pluralist.Justin Garson - 2018 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 69 (4):1101-1122.
    I distinguish two forms of pluralism about biological functions, between-discipline pluralism and within-discipline pluralism. Between-discipline pluralism holds that different theories of function are appropriate for different subdisciplines of biology and psychology. I provide reasons for rejecting this view. Instead, I recommend within-discipline pluralism, which emphasizes the plurality of function concepts at play within any given subdiscipline of biology and psychology.
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  23. (1 other version)Assertion: A Function First Account.Christoph Kelp - 2018 - Noûs 52 (2):411-442.
    This paper aims to develop a novel account of the normativity of assertion. Its core thesis is that assertion has an etiological epistemic function, viz. to generate knowledge in hearers. In conjunction with a general account of etiological functions and their normative import, it is argued that an assertion is epistemically good if and only if it has the disposition to generate knowledge in hearers. In addition, reason is provided to believe that it makes sense to regulate the practice (...)
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  24. Autonomy, function, and representation.Mark H. Bickhard - 2000 - Communication and Cognition-Artificial Intelligence 17 (3-4):111-131.
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  25. ​​Our Fundamental Physical Space: An Essay on the Metaphysics of the Wave Function.Eddy Keming Chen - 2017 - Journal of Philosophy 114 (7):333-365.
    The mathematical structure of realist quantum theories has given rise to a debate about how our ordinary 3-dimensional space is related to the 3N-dimensional configuration space on which the wave function is defined. Which of the two spaces is our (more) fundamental physical space? I review the debate between 3N-Fundamentalists and 3D-Fundamentalists and evaluate it based on three criteria. I argue that when we consider which view leads to a deeper understanding of the physical world, especially given the deeper (...)
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  26. Persistence through function preservation.David Rose - 2015 - Synthese 192 (1):97-146.
    When do the folk think that material objects persist? Many metaphysicians have wanted a view which fits with folk intuitions, yet there is little agreement about what the folk intuit. I provide a range of empirical evidence which suggests that the folk operate with a teleological view of persistence: the folk tend to intuit that a material object survives alterations when its function is preserved. Given that the folk operate with a teleological view of persistence, I argue for a (...)
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  27.  22
    The function of reason.Alfred North Whitehead - 1929 - Boston,: Beacon Press.
    '...In these pages I consider Reason in its relation to these contrasted aspects of history. Reason is the self-discipline of the originative element in history. Apart from the operations of Reason, this element is anarchic.' -From the Summary.
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  28. Facts and the Function of Truth.Huw Price - 1988 - New York, NY, USA: Blackwell.
    Many areas of philosophy employ a distinction between factual and non-factual (descriptive/non-descriptive, cognitive/non-cognitive, etc) uses of language. This book examines the various ways in which this distinction is normally drawn, argues that all are unsatisfactory, and suggests that the search for a sharp distinction is misconceived. The book develops an alternative approach, based on a novel theory of the function and origins of the concept of truth. The central hypothesis is that the main role of the normative notion of (...)
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  29. Finding the world in the wave function: some strategies for solving the macro-object problem.Alyssa Ney - 2020 - Synthese 197 (10):4227-4249.
    Realists wanting to capture the facts of quantum entanglement in a metaphysical interpretation find themselves faced with several options: to grant some species of fundamental nonseparability, adopt holism, or to view localized spacetime systems as ultimately reducible to a higher-dimensional entity, the quantum state or wave function. Those adopting the latter approach and hoping to view the macroscopic world as grounded in the quantum wave function face the macro-object problem. The challenge is to articulate the metaphysical relation obtaining (...)
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  30. Etiological theories of function: A geographical survey.David J. Buller - 1998 - Biology and Philosophy 13 (4):505-527.
    Formulations of the essential commitment of the etiological theory of functions have varied significantly, with some individual authors' formulations even varying from one place to another. The logical geography of these various formulations is different from what is standardly assumed; for they are not stylistic variants of the same essential commitment, but stylistic variants of two non-equivalent versions of the etiological theory. I distinguish these “strong” and “weak” versions of the etiological theory (which differ with respect to the role of (...)
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  31. The Nature and Function of Content in Computational Models.Frances Egan - 2018 - In Mark Sprevak & Matteo Colombo, The Routledge Handbook of the Computational Mind. Routledge.
    Much of computational cognitive science construes human cognitive capacities as representational capacities, or as involving representation in some way. Computational theories of vision, for example, typically posit structures that represent edges in the distal scene. Neurons are often said to represent elements of their receptive fields. Despite the ubiquity of representational talk in computational theorizing there is surprisingly little consensus about how such claims are to be understood. The point of this chapter is to sketch an account of the nature (...)
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  32. Testimonial Entitlement and the Function of Comprehension.Peter J. Graham - 2008 - In Duncan Pritchard, Alan Millar & Adrian Haddock, Social Epistemology. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press. pp. 148--174.
    This paper argues for the general proper functionalist view that epistemic warrant consists in the normal functioning of the belief-forming process when the process has forming true beliefs reliably as an etiological function. Such a process is reliable in normal conditions when functioning normally. This paper applies this view to so-called testimony-based beliefs. It argues that when a hearer forms a comprehension-based belief that P (a belief based on taking another to have asserted that P) through the exercise of (...)
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  33.  36
    Communicative Function Demonstration induces kind-based artifact representation in preverbal infants.Judit Futó, Ernő Téglás, Gergely Csibra & György Gergely - 2010 - Cognition 117 (1):1-8.
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  34.  68
    The signaling function of sharing fake stories.Marianna Bergamaschi Ganapini - 2021 - Mind and Language (1):64-80.
    Why do people share or publicly engage with fake stories? Two possible answers come to mind: (a) people are deeply irrational and believe these stories to be true; or (b) they intend to deceive their audience. Both answers presuppose the idea that people put the stories forward as true. But I argue that in some cases, these outlandish (yet also very popular) stories function as signals of one's group membership. This signaling function can make better sense of why, (...)
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  35. Fitness and function.D. M. Walsh - 1996 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47 (4):553-574.
    According to historical theories of biological function, a trait's function is determined by natural selection in the past. I argue that, in addition to historical functions, ahistorical functions ought to be recognized. I propose a theory of biological function which accommodates both. The function of a trait is the way it contributes to fitness and fitness can only be determined relative to a selective regime. Therefore, the function of a trait can only be specified relative (...)
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  36. A Function-Sensitive Approach to the Political Legitimacy of Global Governance.Eva Erman - 2020 - British Journal of Political Science 50 (3):1001-1024.
     
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  37. Integrative pluralism for biological function.Beckett Sterner & Samuel Cusimano - 2019 - Biology and Philosophy 34 (6):1-21.
    We introduce a new type of pluralism about biological function that, in contrast to existing, demonstrates a practical integration among the term’s different meanings. In particular, we show how to generalize Sandra Mitchell’s notion of integrative pluralism to circumstances where multiple epistemic tools of the same type are jointly necessary to solve scientific problems. We argue that the multiple definitions of biological function operate jointly in this way based on how biologists explain the evolution of protein function. (...)
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  38. The Epistemic Function of Higher-Order Evidence.Declan Smithies - 2022 - In Paul Silva & Luis R. G. Oliveira, Propositional and Doxastic Justification: New Essays on their Nature and Significance. New York: Routledge. pp. 97-120.
    This chapter provides a critical overview of several influential proposals about the epistemic function of higher-order evidence. I start by criticizing accounts of higher-order evidence that appeal to evidential defeat (§1), epistemic conflicts (§2), and unreasonable knowledge (§3). Next, I propose an alternative account that appeals to a combination of improper basing (§4) and non-ideal rationality (§5). Finally, I conclude by summarizing my reasons for preferring this account of higher-order evidence to the alternatives (§6).
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  39. The function of fiction in shaping reality.Paul Ricoeur - 1979 - Man and World 12 (2):123-141.
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  40.  24
    Function of distinct associations for paired-associate performance.George Wolford - 1971 - Psychological Review 78 (4):303-313.
  41. The aesthetic function of art.Gary Iseminger - 2004 - Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Edited by Kevin A. Stoehr.
    Art and the aesthetic -- Traditional aestheticism -- A new aestheticism -- Aesthetic communication -- The artworld and the practice of art -- The artifactual concept of function -- Art as an aesthetic practice -- Artistic value as aesthetic.
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  42.  50
    Hippocampal function: does the working memory hypothesis work? Should we retire the cognitive map theory?John O'Keefe - 1979 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 2 (3):339-343.
  43.  85
    What Is the Epistemic Function of Highly Idealized Agent-Based Models of Scientific Inquiry?Daniel Frey & Dunja Šešelja - 2018 - Philosophy of the Social Sciences 48 (4):407-433.
    In this paper we examine the epistemic value of highly idealized agent-based models of social aspects of scientific inquiry. On the one hand, we argue that taking the results of such simulations as informative of actual scientific inquiry is unwarranted, at least for the class of models proposed in recent literature. Moreover, we argue that a weaker approach, which takes these models as providing only “how-possibly” explanations, does not help to improve their epistemic value. On the other hand, we suggest (...)
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  44.  25
    Hippocampal function and interference.Matthew L. Shapiro & David S. Olton - 1994 - In D. Schacter & E. Tulving, Memory Systems. MIT Press. pp. 1994--87.
  45.  23
    Fitness, function, fidelity, fornication, and feminine philandering.Jack P. Hailman - 1980 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (2):189-189.
  46. The Function of Knowledge.Catherine Z. Elgin - 2021 - Analysis 81 (1):100-107.
    Human beings are epistemically interdependent. Much of what we know and much of what we need to know we glean from others. Being a gregarious bunch, we are prone to venturing opinions whether they are warranted or not. This makes information transfer a tricky business. What we want from others is not just information, but reliable information. When we seek information, we are in the position of enquirers not examiners. We ask someone whether p because we do not ourselves already (...)
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  47.  47
    The function of consciousness in multisensory integration.Terry D. Palmer & Ashley K. Ramsey - 2012 - Cognition 125 (3):353-364.
  48.  27
    The function of the sciences and the meaning of man.Enzo Paci - 1972 - Evanston [Ill.]: Northwestern University Press.
  49. Nature, Function, and Capability: Aristotle on Political Distribution.Nussbaum Martha - 1988 - Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy:145-184.
  50.  48
    Postgenomics function monism.Zdenka Brzović & Predrag Šustar - 2020 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 80:101243.
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