Logic & Philosophy of Science Colloquium



Gillian Barker
  
Bucknell University

"Naturalism and the Organism-Artifact Analogy in the Functions Debate"

Abstract:

The two dominant accounts of function are motivated by different approaches to the naturalistic treatment of teleology and normativity. Though many commentators have urged a reconciliation of these two accounts via either pluralism or integration, this is not possible without resolving the underlying conflict about naturalism. This conflict results from poorly-articulated assumptions about the relationship between natural and artifactual functions; attention to some details of biological fact and the theoretical resources offered by recent innovations in evolutionary biology show a way to resolve the conflict and give an integrated account of function that solves several outstanding problems in the treatment of teleology and normativity. 

 

Monday, January 21, 2008
SST 777
3 pm

Refreshments will be provided

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