Beschreibung:
Michael Esfeld is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His research interests include the metaphysics of science, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of physics.
All properties that exist in the world are functional properties in the sense of causal properties. The authors base a conservative ontological reductionism on this claim and develop functional reduction into a fully-fledged theory reduction through functional sub-types that are coextensive with physical types, providing case studies from biology.
Introduction 1.The Dilemma of Functionalism 2. The Metaphysics of Causal Structures 3. The Theory of Evolution and Causal Structures in Biology 4. Case Study: Classical and Molecular Genetics 5. Conservative Functional Reduction Conclusion