  The relevant notion of a function here is the biological teleological, not the dispositional one: the function of an organ is not what the organ is disposed to do, but what it was selected to do (see Millikan 1984 and Neander 1995). Arguably, nothing can have a function unless it results from some historical process of selection or other. Selection processes are design processes. Most advocates of teleosemantics accept the etiological account of functions according to which the function of a device is a selected effect, i.e. an effect produced by the device that explains the continued proliferation of tokens of this type of device. Thus, according to “teleosemantic” theories, design is the main source of function, which in turn is the source of content or intentionality. Such theories are called “teleosemantic” theories in virtue of the connection between design or teleology and content. One contentious issue is whether the teleological approach championed by Millikan can be combined with informational semantics so that S can be said to represent instances of property F if and only if it is S’s function to carry information about F. Against this proposal, Millikan (2004) has argued that the information carried by a sign depends on its causes, not its effects. But according to teleosemantics and the etiological approach to functions, the function of a device is one of its effects: it does not depend on its causes. For further discussion, see the SEP entry on teleological theories of mental content and the papers collected in Ryder, Kinsbury and Williford (eds.)(2011). 