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Full Idea
Teleological notions of function specify not just what a thing happens to do, but what it is supposed to do.
Clarification
'Teleological' means to do with purpose
Gist of Idea
Teleological notions of function say what a thing is supposed to do
Source
Thomas W. Polger (Natural Minds [2004], Ch.5.3)
Book Ref
Polger,Thomas W.: 'Natural Minds' [MIT 2004], p.165
A Reaction
This is the basis of a distinct theory of the mind. It seems to be akin to the 'dispositions' of behaviourism, so that the mind becomes once more a theoretical and abstract entity, rather than a thing of occurrent events and processes.
| 5873 | Each thing's function is its end [Aristotle] |
| 5108 | Is ceasing-to-be unnatural if it happens by force, and natural otherwise? [Aristotle] |
| 22380 | Some words, such as 'knife', have a meaning which involves its function [Foot] |
| 10431 | Things are thought to have a function, even when they can't perform them [Sainsbury] |
| 12245 | Essence is the source of a thing's characteristic behaviour [Oderberg] |
| 6379 | A mummified heart has the teleological function of circulating blood [Polger] |
| 6377 | Teleological notions of function say what a thing is supposed to do [Polger] |
| 14387 | Rather than dispositions, functions may be the element that brought a thing into existence [Leuridan] |