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Table of Contents
Intro
Functions: From Organisms to Artefacts
Copyright
Introduction to the New English Edition
References
Introduction to the Original French Edition
References
Contents
Part I: Origins of Functional Discourse in the Life Sciences
Chapter 1: Biological Function: A Phylogeny of the Concept
1.1 The Importance of a Concept's History
1.2 The "Historical" Objection to Millikan "Proper Functions"
1.3 A Branch of a Complex, Branching Phylogeny
1.4 Aristotelian Proper Functions
1.5 Galenic Proper Functions
1.6 Harverian Proper Functions
1.7 Aristotelians, Darwinians, and Proper Functions
1.8 Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: The Structure-Function Relationship in the Advent of Biology
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Functions and Physiological Properties
2.3 Functions and Correlations Between Elementary Vital Properties
2.4 Functions and Cell Theory
2.5 Functions, Instrumental Forms, and Vital Processes
2.6 Functions and Complex Chains of Mechanisms
2.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Tissues, Properties, and Functions: The Term Function in French Biology in the Early Nineteenth Century
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Bichat's Legacy
3.2.1 A Vitalistic and Agonistic Definition of Life
3.2.2 A System of Vital Properties
3.2.2.1 The System of Vital Properties and the Division of Life into Organic and Animal Functions
3.2.2.2 The Articulation Between Properties and Tissues
3.3 The Polemical Use of the Concept of Function in the Attacks Against Bichat's Theory
3.3.1 Magendie: An Internal Critique of Bichat's Vital Properties
3.3.1.1 Bichat's Notion of Function
3.3.1.2 Magendie's Criticism: Animal Sensibility and Animal Contractility as "True Functions"
3.3.2 Auguste Comte's Criticism
3.3.2.1 The Large and Abstract Definition of Function
3.3.2.2 The Narrow Definition of Function and the Scientific Aim of Biology
3.3.2.3 Cuvier's Shadow?
3.3.2.4 The Harmonization of Physiological and Anatomical Hierarchies
3.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: "Design," History of the Word and the Concept: Natural Sciences, History, Theology, and Aesthetics
4.1 The Word
4.2 The Concept
4.3 Paley: The Argument from Design
4.4 Hume: The Analogy of Nature Criticized
4.5 Kant: A Necessary Analogy, but Without Foundations
4.6 Decline and Revival of Design
4.7 Dawkins
4.8 Design and Function Today
4.9 Conclusions
References
Chapter 5: Function and Purpose: Review of the "Written Symposium" (1976-1984) Organized by the Institut de la Méthode of the Ferdinand Gonseth Association
5.1 Formula and Style of the "Written Symposium"
5.2 Context of the Symposium and Circumstances of Its Triggering Off
5.3 Influence of Monod on the Two Opposed Fronts in the Written Symposium and on Its Interspersing Colloquium
Functions: From Organisms to Artefacts
Copyright
Introduction to the New English Edition
References
Introduction to the Original French Edition
References
Contents
Part I: Origins of Functional Discourse in the Life Sciences
Chapter 1: Biological Function: A Phylogeny of the Concept
1.1 The Importance of a Concept's History
1.2 The "Historical" Objection to Millikan "Proper Functions"
1.3 A Branch of a Complex, Branching Phylogeny
1.4 Aristotelian Proper Functions
1.5 Galenic Proper Functions
1.6 Harverian Proper Functions
1.7 Aristotelians, Darwinians, and Proper Functions
1.8 Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: The Structure-Function Relationship in the Advent of Biology
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Functions and Physiological Properties
2.3 Functions and Correlations Between Elementary Vital Properties
2.4 Functions and Cell Theory
2.5 Functions, Instrumental Forms, and Vital Processes
2.6 Functions and Complex Chains of Mechanisms
2.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Tissues, Properties, and Functions: The Term Function in French Biology in the Early Nineteenth Century
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Bichat's Legacy
3.2.1 A Vitalistic and Agonistic Definition of Life
3.2.2 A System of Vital Properties
3.2.2.1 The System of Vital Properties and the Division of Life into Organic and Animal Functions
3.2.2.2 The Articulation Between Properties and Tissues
3.3 The Polemical Use of the Concept of Function in the Attacks Against Bichat's Theory
3.3.1 Magendie: An Internal Critique of Bichat's Vital Properties
3.3.1.1 Bichat's Notion of Function
3.3.1.2 Magendie's Criticism: Animal Sensibility and Animal Contractility as "True Functions"
3.3.2 Auguste Comte's Criticism
3.3.2.1 The Large and Abstract Definition of Function
3.3.2.2 The Narrow Definition of Function and the Scientific Aim of Biology
3.3.2.3 Cuvier's Shadow?
3.3.2.4 The Harmonization of Physiological and Anatomical Hierarchies
3.4 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: "Design," History of the Word and the Concept: Natural Sciences, History, Theology, and Aesthetics
4.1 The Word
4.2 The Concept
4.3 Paley: The Argument from Design
4.4 Hume: The Analogy of Nature Criticized
4.5 Kant: A Necessary Analogy, but Without Foundations
4.6 Decline and Revival of Design
4.7 Dawkins
4.8 Design and Function Today
4.9 Conclusions
References
Chapter 5: Function and Purpose: Review of the "Written Symposium" (1976-1984) Organized by the Institut de la Méthode of the Ferdinand Gonseth Association
5.1 Formula and Style of the "Written Symposium"
5.2 Context of the Symposium and Circumstances of Its Triggering Off
5.3 Influence of Monod on the Two Opposed Fronts in the Written Symposium and on Its Interspersing Colloquium