title: Fitness, functions, and exaptation
title: a study in philosophical methodology and theoretical and applied philosophy of biology
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Nematipour, Behzad
Publisher: name: University of Muenster, Institutional Repository MIAMI
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: 100 Philosophy, parapsychology and occultism, psychology
subject: 101 Theory of philosophy
subject: 124 Teleology
subject: 146 Naturalism and related systems and doctrines

description: Diese Arbeit widmet sich einem Thema aus dem Bereich der Philosophie der Biologie. Zwei zentrale Begriffe der Biologie werden untersucht: der Begriff der biologischen Fitness und der Funktionsbegriff. Über die Fragen aus diesem speziellen Gebiet hinaus stellt sie methodologische Überlegungen zur philosophischen Reflexion wissenschaftlicher Grundbegriffe an. Insbesondere beschäftigt sich die Arbeit mit der Frage, ob Wissenschaftsphilosophie bei der Erklärung der zu verstehenden Phänomene in Einzelwissenschaften bzw. der Klärung einzelwissenschaftlicher Begriffe dem Ansatz der Begriffsanalyse oder einer anderen Methode folgen sollte. Zum Schluss wird anhand einer Fallstudie aus der Verhaltensbiologie gezeigt, wie die Wissenschaftsphilosophie auch für die experimentelle Biologie fruchtbar gemacht werden kann.
description: This book comprises various areas in the philosophy of science. It begins with a general consideration of philosophical methodology and its significance for the philosophy of science. Applying the methodological framework developed in the first part, it continues to work on some conceptual issues within the philosophy of biology, namely issues concerning the notions of biological fitness and functions. Subsequently, it ends with a case study of the applied philosophy of science suggesting new experiments based on theoretical considerations.
description: Introduction..... 1 
1 Conceptual Works in Philosophy of Science ..... 6 
1.1 Introduction ..... 6 
1.2 The Development of Conceptual Analysis ..... 9 
1.3 The Problems with the Core Assumptions of Conceptual Analysis ..... 13 
1.3.1 The Argument against (A1) ..... 14 
1.3.2 The Arguments against (A2) ..... 17 
1.4 Some Defenses of Conceptual Analysis ..... 24 
1.5 Millikan's Theory of Unicepts and Unitrackers ..... 30 
1.5.1 The Theory of Unicepts ..... 30 
1.5.2 On Knowing the Meaning ..... 34 
1.6 A General Framework for "Conceptual Works" in the Philosophy of Science ..... 37 
1.7 Conclusion ..... 39 
2 Fitness, Reproductive Success, and Functions ..... 41 
2.1 Introduction ..... 41 
2.2 Fitness as the Reproductive Success: The Orthodox Notions ..... 43 
2.3 The Propensity Interpretation of Fitness ..... 45 
2.3.1 Motivation ..... 45 
2.3.2 The Theory ..... 47 
2.3.3 Linking Dispositions and Conditionals ..... 50 
2.4 Remediating the PIF ..... 52 
2.4.1 Applicability to Reproductive Success ..... 52 
2.4.2 Two Faces of the PIF ..... 56 
2.5 A New Proposal ..... 57 
2.5.1 A Functional Approach ..... 57 
2.5.2 Explanatory Powers of the Functional Approach and A Suspicion of
Circularity ..... 59 
2.5.3 Unraveling the Problems with Stimulus Conditions ..... 63 
2.6 An Interpretation of the Metaphor of 'Fit': Fitness as an Ecological Descriptor ..... 66 
2.7 Conclusion ..... 67 
3 Functions, Selection, and Exaptations ..... 68 
3.1 Introduction ..... 68 
3.2 A Critical Overview of Functional Debates ..... 69 
3.2.1 Functions and Normativity (Malfunctions) ..... 69 
3.2.2 Functions versus Accidents/Non-functions ..... 71 
3.2.3 Functional Explanations: Two Paradigms ..... 75 
3.3 Some Methodology ..... 78 
3.4 Function and Selection ..... 86 
3.4.1 A Crude Etiological Theory of Function ..... 86 
3.4.2 The Comprehensivity Problem: Causal Power of Trait Types! ..... 87 
3.4.3 The Circularity Objection: Trait Type Individuation ..... 88 
3.4.4 Direct Proper Functions and Reproductively Established Families ..... 90 
3.4.5 Resolving the Circularity Objection ..... 97 
3.5 Functions and Fitness ..... 101 
3.5.1 The Descriptive Generality Principle and Relational Proper Functions ..... 102 
3.5.2 Indeterminacies in the Fitness-contribution Notion of Functions ..... 108 
3.5.3 An Applicable Notion of Exaptation or "Function-as" ..... 111 
3.6 A Generalized Selected-Effects Theory of Functions? ..... 115 
3.6.1 Argument 1: Synapses, REFs, and Direct Proper Functions ..... 118 
3.6.2 Argument 2: Synapses and Derived Proper Functions ..... 120 
3.6.3 Argument 3: Deferential Retention and Malfunctions ..... 121 
3.6.4 Argument 4: Differential Retention and Non-functions/Accidents ..... 123 
3.7 Conclusion ..... 124 
4 Cognitive bias in animal behavior science: A philosophical perspective ..... 126 
4.1 Introduction ..... 126 
4.2 Epistemic Limits of Emotional Indicators ..... 128 
4.3 Underlying Cognitive Abilities ..... 135 
4.3.1 Plausible Candidates ..... 136 
4.3.2 Ways of Differentiating: A New Proposal ..... 145 
4.4 Conclusion ..... 151 
References..... 153