Birch, Jonathan 
ORCID: 0000-0001-7517-4759
(2012)
Robust processes and teleological language.
European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2 (3).
pp. 299-312.
ISSN 1879-4912
Abstract
I consider some hitherto unexplored examples of teleological language in the sciences. In explicating these examples, I aim to show (a) that such language is not the sole preserve of the biological sciences, and (b) that not all such talk is reducible to the ascription of functions. In chemistry and biochemistry, scientists explaining molecular rearrangements and protein folding talk informally of molecules rearranging “in order to” maximize stability. Evolutionary biologists, meanwhile, often speak of traits evolving “in order to” optimize some fitness-relevant variable. I argue that in all three contexts such locutions are best interpreted as shorthands for more detailed explanations which, were we to spell them out in full, would show that the relevant process would robustly converge towards the same end-point despite variation in initial conditions. This suggests that, in biology, such talk presupposes a substantial form of adaptationism. The upshot is that such shorthands may be more applicable in the physical sciences than the biological.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://link.springer.com/journal/13194 |
| Additional Information: | © 2012 Springer |
| Divisions: | Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 07 May 2015 09:40 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Jan 2024 05:48 |
| Funders: | Arts and Humanities Research Council |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/61817 |
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