CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Popa, Elena |
|---|---|
| Title | Etiological Theories of Functions and Functional Explanations in Biology |
| Summary | A study on how etiological theories of functions relate to functional explanations in biology. Focusing on the problem of distinguishing between evolutionary explanations and functional explanations, I show why the modern history theory of functions, along with the whole etiological account, cannot support this distinction by itself. My objection to the way in which the modern history theory draws the distinction will target two assumptions on which this account relies: that selected effect functions can account for both kinds of explanations and that functional explanations are a kind of historical selection explanation. These two assumptions are not supported by the practice of biologists, who use different concepts of functions and other methods beside the historical method in their explanations. As a consequence, functional explanation, as defined by etiological theories is unable to offer satisfactory accounts for the fitness contribution of traits. |
| Supervisor | Heintz, Christophe |
| Department | Philosophy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/popa_elena.pdf |
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