Free standard shipping on all orders
  • Visa
  • Master Card
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • JCB

Philosophy of Biological Functions book cover

1st Edition

Philosophy of Biological Functions

Edited By Zdenka Brzović, Justin Garson, Predrag Šustar Copyright 2027
364 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

The function of eyespots on butterfly wings is to deflect attack away from vital organs. The cell membrane’s function is to regulate the materials that pass in and out of the cell. However, biologists sometimes disagree about functions, such as the function of the giraffe’s long neck or the zebra’s stripes. This outstanding volume, written by an international roster of expert contributors,... Read more

List of Contributors

Editors’ Introduction Zdenka Brzović, Justin Garson, and Predrag Šustar

Part 1: A Historical Overview

1. Function and Teleology in the Twentieth Century Justin Garson

Part 2: Theories of Function

2. Etiological Theories Harriet Fagerberg

3. Causal Role Theories Marcel Weber

4. Fitness Contribution Theories Paul E. Griffiths

5. Organizational Theories Cristian Saborido, Charbel N. El-Hani, and Alvaro Moreno

6. Modal Theory Fabian Hundertmark

7. Good Contribution Theories Peter McLaughlin

8. Early Organicist Theories Joan Steigerwald

9. Kinds of Pluralism Beckett Sterner

Part 3: Functions across Levels of Biological Organization

10. Functions in Ecology Katie H. Morrow

11. Functions in Molecular Biology Zdenka Brzović and Predrag Šustar

12. Functions in Neuroscience Joseph McCaffrey

13. Functions in Biomedicine John Matthewson

14. Functions in Psychiatry Jerome C. Wakefield

Part 4: Functions in the Human World

15. Functions and Artifacts Françoise Longy

16. Functions in Social Institutions Frank Hindricks

17. Functions and Mental Representation Peter Schulte

18. Functions in Epistemology Ema Sullivan-Bissett

19. Functions in Ethics Parisa Moosavi

20. Functions in Conceptual Engineering Amie Thomasson.

Index

Biography

Zdenka Brzović is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, and in the Division of Cognitive Sciences at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Croatia. Her interests lie at the intersection of science and philosophy, focusing on philosophical questions related to biology, medicine, and the life sciences more broadly. She has recently co-authored and authored several articles on scientific classifications in the life sciences and the notion of function in biology, and specifically in genome biology.

Justin Garson is Professor of Philosophy at Hunter College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA. He has authored several books and articles on the nature of biological functions, including A Critical Overview of Biological Functions (2016), What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter (2019) and, with Harriet Fagerberg, Biological Functions (forthcoming). He also writes on philosophy of psychiatry and mental health.

Predrag Šustar is Professor in Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rijeka, Croatia. His research primarily focuses on topics in philosophy of science, relating to biology and the life sciences, more generally. He has recently co-authored and authored several articles in the biological functions debate, including a co-edited volume with John McMillan and Luca Malatesti, Psychopathy: Its Uses, Validity and Status (2022). He also writes on history and philosophy of science, with particular emphasis on Kant.

Add to Cart