By Hanzhe Dong and Gualtiero Piccinini Introduction What are biological functions, and how should we think about them? This question has been controversial in the philosophy of biology (and technology). The Selected Effects (SE) account ties (teleological) functions to selection history, asserting that a trait’s teleofunction F is an activity …
Fabian Hundertmark, Bielefeld UniversityJakob Roloff, Justus-Liebig-University GießenFrancesca Bellazzi, University of Oslo, ERC Project Assembling Life (no.101089326) 1. Introduction In the target post, Dong and Piccinini criticize SE and propose a new goal-contribution account of functions (GCA) (also in Maley, Piccinini 2017; Piccinini, 2020). In this second post, we argue that …
Fabian Hundertmark, Bielefeld UniversityJakob Roloff, Justus-Liebig-University GießenFrancesca Bellazzi, University of Oslo, ERC Project Assembling Life (no.101089326) 1. Introduction Functions are everywhere. Coffee machines have the function of making our coffee and our hearts have the function of pumping our blood. But what are functions, and how should we think of …
We are pleased to announce our forthcoming events: a book symposium on Nick Shea’s new book on concepts, & the lineup for the 2025 webinar series Book Symposiumjoint initiative with ISPSM (https://www.ispsmind.com/):13 December 2024, 4-7 pm CETConcepts at the Interface (OUP)Nick Shea (London)Discussants:Sara Aronowitz, Chris Hill, Eric Margolis, Gualtiero Piccinini, Michael Strevens …
Many thanks again to Andre Curtis-Trudel, Marcin Milkowski, Danielle Williams, and Mazviita Chirimuuta for their commentaries on our recent book The Physical Signature of Computation: A Robust Mapping Account. The medium independence of computation seems to have caused trouble for the latter three commentators, so we take this opportunity to …
Tim Crane on AI and Agency
We are pleased to announce a new interview series exploring the philosophical implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The rapid development of AI has reignited interest in fundamental questions of consciousness and agency. Previously confined to theoretical discourse, these issues now demand re-evaluation in light of AI’s burgeoning capabilities. In this …
