Forward-Looking Concept Functions and the Function/Accident Distinction.
Appealing to the functions of concepts in conceptual engineering projects has been hailed as a promising avenue to explain defects of concepts, the possibility of amelioration, and the continuity of topic post engineering. Some of the most prominent theories of concept functions build on what I call...
| Publicado en: | Erkenntnis Vol. 91; no. 4; pp. 1681 - 1708 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Apr2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=194808473&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 194808473 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01650106 5KZ jtl: Erkenntnis issn: 01650106 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 91 iid: 4 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 194808473 10.1007/s10670-025-00957-1 ppf: 1681 ppct: 27 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 780KB tig: atl: Forward-Looking Concept Functions and the Function/Accident Distinction. aug: au: Zuber, Aneta affil: https://ror.org/02crff812 Department of Philosophy, University of Zurich, Zürichbergstrasse 43, 8044, Zurich, ZH, Switzerland su: Distinction (Philosophy) Normativity (Ethics) sug: subj: Distinction (Philosophy) Normativity (Ethics) keyword: Philosophy and Religious Studies Philosophy ab: Appealing to the functions of concepts in conceptual engineering projects has been hailed as a promising avenue to explain defects of concepts, the possibility of amelioration, and the continuity of topic post engineering. Some of the most prominent theories of concept functions build on what I call the Usefulness Thesis, i.e. what makes something the function of a concept is what makes it useful. In this paper, I argue that this approach does not meet some of the most fundamental adequacy criteria for a theory of function, that is, (1) they do not draw a stable function/accident distinction and (2) they cannot account for the normativity of functions. I show that theories of concept function that build on the Usefulness Thesis are all essentially forward-looking theories of functions and show that these theories face a problem of overreach and a vacuous normativity proviso. I further argue that they do not lend themselves to conceptual critique, so they are not fit for conceptual engineering purposes. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Erkenntnis is a copyright of Springer, 2026. All Rights Reserved. item: Erkenntnis holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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