Michael Ruse and the Stegosaurus: Ends, Values and Functions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48160/18532330me14.356Keywords:
Ruse, Wright, values, teleology, function, change of functionAbstract
Based on Michael Ruse's critique of the etiological conception of biological function developed by Larry Wright, according to which this explanation is incomplete since it fails to address the cultural and value background that makes teleological explanation possible, I propose to respond to an objection to the etiological conception according to which change of function constitutes an anomaly for it. My argument links Ruse's ideas about the relevance of values in teleological explanation with a reinterpretation, in a hypothetical phylogenetic context, of a putative counterexample to function as a selected effect. My conclusion is that there is no reason to abandon, at least for this case, the etiological conception on the basis of objections about its explanatory power for change of function.
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