Is a Deontic Modal Word? function Michael Beebe Draft of June 2017 First Draft January 2017, available at Academia.edu 1.0 Introduction In this paper I develop a theory of and function as a deontic modal word and function phenomenon. account of the semantics for the deontic modals is invoked and using her Kratzer’s approach a formal schema for the semantics of is proposed. My account of function-sentences function is a modalized and extended version of systems-type account of function. In Cummins’ the biological and physical sciences, on this account, function is a complex empirical deontic modal property. It is built on the property of doing Y well enough to enable Z, which is X’s implicitly deontic because of the evaluative but nonetheless empirical in its biological and physical applications. This account of function resolves many of the traditional puzzles about biological and physical function, and extends naturally to include the other types of function. With a variant treatment of the semantics, this account is argued also to apply to mathematical function, where it is shown to be interestingly related to account of function. Frege’s 2.0 Function and function 2.1 The peculiarities of function and function To see some of the puzzles about function, consider the in 1a) g) below, all function-sentences – of which are commonly used in ordinary speech and are consistent with our naive understanding of function-talk. They all be true, we understand that, so the endeavor is to find the account can’t which preserves as much truth and good sense as possible, and also provides the best fit with other, related, linguistic phenomena. 1a) The function of the heart to pump the blood b) The heart is for pumping the blood c) The purpose of the heart is to pump the blood d) The heart is supposed to pump the blood
Is function a Deontic Modal Word? Michael Beebe Draft of June 2017 First Draft January 2017, available at Academia.edu 1.0 Introduction In this paper I develop a theory of function and function as a deontic modal word and phenomenon. Kratzer’s account of the semantics for the deontic modals is invoked and using her approach a formal schema for the semantics of function-sentences is proposed. My account of function is a modalized and extended version of Cummins’ systems-type account of function. In the biological and physical sciences, on this account, function is a complex empirical deontic modal property. It is built on the property of X’s doing Y well enough to enable Z, which is implicitly deontic because of the evaluative but nonetheless empirical in its biological and physical applications. This account of function resolves many of the traditional puzzles about biological and physical function, and extends naturally to include the other types of function. With a variant treatment of the semantics, this account is argued also to apply to mathematical function, where it is shown to be interestingly related to Frege’s account of function. 2.0 Function and function 2.1 The peculiarities of function and function To see some of the puzzles about function, consider the function-sentences in 1a) – g) below, all of which are commonly used in ordinary speech and are consistent with our naive understanding of function-talk. They can’t all be true, we understand that, so the endeavor is to find the account which preserves as much truth and good sense as possible, and also provides the best fit with other, related, linguistic phenomena. 1a) The function of the heart to pump the blood b) The heart is for pumping the blood c) The purpose of the heart is to pump the blood d) The heart is supposed to pump the blood
Function.%20rev%20of%206.28.17.docx