Complex causality as the root of the structure/function relation problem: 1/ general considerations; 2/ the example of the bone tissue

TL;DRAbstract

Biological functions, at all integrative levels of biology, are readily understood as the justification (or explanation) of the actual occurrence of the structures involved into their execution. This brings back directly to Aristotelian " final causes " and it is why modern epistemologists have struggled to offer concepts of function rid of any finalism. The two current answers, known as the etiological and systemic concepts of function respectively echo Mayr's distinction between historical and functional biology (1961). Those two aspects of biology convey either the historical (phylogenetic) or functional (mechanistic) modes of explanations for every actual structuro-functional occurrences. Each aspect is set within distinct epistemological (experimental/nomological vs. comparative/historical) frameworks, dealing with the analysis of proximate and ultimate causes, respectively . A third point of view on causal explanation of form/function relationships was reintroduced in modern scie

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