Thematic
Biological function
Biologists ascribe functions to biological traits. For example, they tell us that it is the function of the heart to pump blood and that it is a function ...
Search Results 1 - 17 of 17. Results contain 26 matches
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Overview
Biology, philosophy of
Biologists sometimes look perplexed when they are told of the existence of a subject called ‘The Philosophy of Biology’. What, they ask, is there to philosophise about in ...
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Thematic
Functionalism in social science
In the social sciences, functionalists are theorists who give an especially prominent role to functional explanations. One of the most influential self-defined functionalists, Malinowski (1926), summed up this ...
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Thematic
Mental illness, concept of
The mad were once thought to be wicked or possessed, whereas now they are generally thought to be sick, or mentally ill. Usually, this is regarded as a ...
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Thematic
Explanation
Philosophical reflections about explanation are common in the history of philosophy, and important proposals were made by Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Mill. But the subject came of age ...
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Thematic
Semantics, teleological (teleosemantics)
Teleological/biological theories of meaning use a biological concept of function to explain how the internal states of organisms like ourselves can represent conditions in the world. These theories ...
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Thematic
Functional explanation
Explanations appealing to the functions of items are common in everyday discourse and in science: we say that the heart pumps blood because that is its function, and ...
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Biographical
Gersonides (1288–1344)
Living all his life in southern France, Levi ben Gershom, known as Gersonides in Latin texts, was an accomplished astronomer and mathematician as well as a philosopher. A ...
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Thematic
Moral education
This entry looks at three contemporary approaches to moral learning and education, all of which have roots in the history of philosophy. The first holds that just as ...
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Thematic
Evolution and religion
Ever since the seventeenth century, there has been debate about the compatibility of scientific findings and religious doctrines. During this period, many devout people have held that science ...
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Thematic
Genetic modification
Genetic modification is the heritable alteration of the genetic make-up of an organism. As a natural process this is as old as genes themselves, and has been utilized ...
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Thematic
Psychē
Conventionally translated ‘soul’, psychē is the standard word in classical Greek for the centre of an animal’s, and especially a human being’s, ‘life’. In its earliest usage ...
Thematic
Evolution, theory of
The biological theory of evolution advances the view that the variety and forms of life on earth are the result of descent with modification from the earliest forms ...
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Thematic
Evolutionary developmental biology
Evolutionary developmental biology is the study of evolutionary change (called phylogeny) as it is revealed through the embryological development of individual organisms (called ontogeny). On this approach, the ...
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Thematic
Natural selection and adaptation
Students of the natural world have long remarked on the fact that animals and plants are well suited to the demands of their environments. ‘Adaptation’, as it is ...
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Thematic
Genetic modification
Genetic modification in humans, non-human animals, and plants gives rise to a range of philosophical and ethical issues. There are a range of techniques and applications for genetic ...
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Thematic
Evolutionary aesthetics
Evolutionary aesthetics is the multidisciplinary investigation of the origins and evolution of our artistic and aesthetic behaviours and the capacities underwriting those behaviours. Key research questions include when, ...
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