Resumen de La heterogeneidad de criterios para la atribución funcional. Estudio de un caso
HETEROGENEITY OF CRITERIA USED FOR FUNCTIONAL ATTRIBUTION. A CASE STUDY.The philosophical discussion around the concept of function led to the formulation of various definitions in terms of necessary and sufficient conditions. In this paper, I evaluate the adequacy of the most prominent philosophical proposals based on the evidence used for the attribution of functions in a case study of behavioral biology, and show how each proposed definition only partially accounts for the evidence appealed in this case. Considering these results, I suggest that the heterogeneity of criteria used for functional attribution could be symptomatic for the need to treat ‘function’ as a theoretical concept, based on the criteria of determination, and not on a definition in terms of necessary or sufficient conditions.
