Function as a causal role in a biological model - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société
Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2011

Function as a causal role in a biological model

Résumé

Philosophers of biology usually distinguish historical and systemic accounts of functions. In many areas of experimental biology the "systemic" account is often the most relevant. Yet there are problems this account does admittedly not face up to very well. My contention is that, though two minor problems are irredeemably unsolvable for the systemic account of function, the major ones can be solved by assuming that 'function' denotes (directly) a causal role in a model and (indirectly) the corresponding process in nature. I try to show this through the analysis of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis of stress.
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Dates et versions

halshs-00792419 , version 1 (21-02-2013)

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  • HAL Id : halshs-00792419 , version 1

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Maël Lemoine. Function as a causal role in a biological model. 14th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (CLMPS), Jul 2011, Nancy, France. ⟨halshs-00792419⟩
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