What Functions Explain
What Functions Explain

Author: Peter McLaughlin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2000-12-18

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1139428535

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This 2001 book offers an examination of functional explanation as it is used in biology and the social sciences, and focuses on the kinds of philosophical presuppositions that such explanations carry with them. It tackles such questions as: why are some things explained functionally while others are not? What do the functional explanations tell us about how these objects are conceptualized? What do we commit ourselves to when we give and take functional explanations in the life sciences and the social sciences? McLaughlin gives a critical review of the debate on functional explanation in the philosophy of science. He discusses the history of the philosophical question of teleology, and provides a comprehensive review of the post-war literature on functional explanation. What Functions Explain provides a sophisticated and detailed Aristotelian analysis of our concept of natural functions, and offers a positive contribution to the ongoing debate on the topic.

Advanced R
Advanced R

Author: Hadley Wickham

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 669

ISBN-13: 1498759807

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An Essential Reference for Intermediate and Advanced R Programmers Advanced R presents useful tools and techniques for attacking many types of R programming problems, helping you avoid mistakes and dead ends. With more than ten years of experience programming in R, the author illustrates the elegance, beauty, and flexibility at the heart of R. The book develops the necessary skills to produce quality code that can be used in a variety of circumstances. You will learn: The fundamentals of R, including standard data types and functions Functional programming as a useful framework for solving wide classes of problems The positives and negatives of metaprogramming How to write fast, memory-efficient code This book not only helps current R users become R programmers but also shows existing programmers what’s special about R. Intermediate R programmers can dive deeper into R and learn new strategies for solving diverse problems while programmers from other languages can learn the details of R and understand why R works the way it does.

A Critical Overview of Biological Functions
A Critical Overview of Biological Functions

Author: Justin Garson

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-03-30

Total Pages: 119

ISBN-13: 3319320203

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This book is a critical survey of and guidebook to the literature on biological functions. It ties in with current debates and developments, and at the same time, it looks back on the state of discourse in naturalized teleology prior to the 1970s. It also presents three significant new proposals. First, it describes the generalized selected effects theory, which is one version of the selected effects theory, maintaining that the function of a trait consists in the activity that led to its differential persistence or reproduction in a population, and not merely its differential reproduction. Secondly, it advances “within-discipline pluralism” (as opposed to between-discipline pluralism) a new form of function pluralism, which emphasizes the coexistence of function concepts within diverse biological sub-disciplines. Lastly, it provides a critical assessment of recent alternatives to the selected effects theory of function, namely, the weak etiological theory and the systems-theoretic theory. The book argues that, to the extent that functions purport to offer causal explanations for the existence of a trait, there are no viable alternatives to the selected effects view. The debate about biological functions is still as relevant and important to biology and philosophy as it ever was. Recent controversies surrounding the ENCODE Project Consortium in genetics, the nature of psychiatric classification, and the value of ecological restoration, all point to the continuing relevance to biology of philosophical discussion about the nature of functions. In philosophy, ongoing debates about the nature of biological information, intentionality, health and disease, mechanism, and even biological trait classification, are closely related to debates about biological functions.

What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter
What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter

Author: Justin Garson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-01-10

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1108472591

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This accessible book presents a new theory of biological functions and connects it to contemporary problems in philosophy and science.

Social Functions in Philosophy
Social Functions in Philosophy

Author: Rebekka Hufendiek

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-03-09

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0429787855

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Social functions and functional explanations play a prominent role not only in our everyday reasoning but also in classical as well as contemporary social theory and empirical social research. This volume explores metaphysical, normative, and methodological perspectives on social functions and functional explanations in the social sciences. It aims to push the philosophical debate on social functions forward along new investigative lines by including up-to-date discussions of the metaphysics of social functions, questions concerning the nature of functional explanations within the social domain, and various applications of functionalist theorising. As such, this is one of the first collections to exclusively address a variety of philosophical questions concerning the nature and relevance of social functions.

Explanation and Integration in Mind and Brain Science
Explanation and Integration in Mind and Brain Science

Author: David Michael Kaplan

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0199685509

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Is the relationship between psychology and neuroscience one of autonomy or mutual constraint and integration? This volume includes new papers from leading philosophers seeking to address this issue by deepening our understanding of the similarities and differences between the explanatory patterns employed across these domains.

NUMERICAL, SYMBOLIC AND STATISTICAL COMPUTING FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERS USING MATLAB
NUMERICAL, SYMBOLIC AND STATISTICAL COMPUTING FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERS USING MATLAB

Author: Ghosh, Pallab

Publisher: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Published: 2018-09-01

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 9387472523

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Numerical, analytical and statistical computations are routine affairs for chemical engineers. They usually prefer a single software to solve their computational problems, and at present, MATLAB has emerged as a powerful computational language, which is preferably used for this purpose, due to its built-in functions and toolboxes. Considering the needs and convenience of the students, the author has made an attempt to write this book, which explains the various concepts of MATLAB in a systematic way and makes its readers proficient in using MATLAB for computing. It mainly focuses on the applications of MATLAB, rather than its use in programming basic numerical algorithms. Commencing with the introduction to MATLAB, the text covers vector and matrix computations, solution of linear and non-linear equations, differentiation and integration, and solution of ordinary and partial differential equations. Next, analytical computations using the Symbolic Math Toolbox and statistical computations using the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox are explained. Finally, the book describes various curve fitting techniques using the Curve Fitting Toolbox. Inclusion of all these advanced-level topics in the book stands it out from the rest. KEY FEATURES  Numerous worked-out examples to enable the readers understand the steps involved in solving the chemical engineering problems  MATLAB codes to explain the computational techniques  Several snapshots to help the readers understand the step-by-step procedures of using the toolboxes  Chapter-end exercises, including short-answer questions and numerical problems  Appendix comprising the definitions of some important and special matrices  Supplemented with Solutions Manual containing complete detailed solutions to the unsolved analytical problems  Accessibility of selected colour figures (including screenshots and results/outputs of the programs) cited in the text at www.phindia.com/Pallab_Ghosh. TARGET AUDIENCE • BE/B.Tech (Chemical Engineering) • ME/M.Tech (Chemical Engineering)

Handbook of Mathematical Functions
Handbook of Mathematical Functions

Author: Milton Abramowitz

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 1965-01-01

Total Pages: 1068

ISBN-13: 9780486612720

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An extensive summary of mathematical functions that occur in physical and engineering problems

Functions Modeling Change
Functions Modeling Change

Author: Eric Connally

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-02-20

Total Pages: 546

ISBN-13: 1119498317

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An accessible Precalculus text with concepts, examples, and problems The sixth edition of Functions Modeling Change: A Preparation for Calculus helps students establish a foundation for studying Calculus. The text covers key Precalculus topics, examples, and problems. Chapters examine linear, quadratic, logarithmic, exponential, polynomial, and rational functions. They also explore trigonometry and trigonometric Identities, plus vectors and matrices. The end of each chapter offers details on how students can strengthen their knowledge about the topics covered.

C++ for Artists
C++ for Artists

Author: Rick Miller

Publisher: Pulp Free Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 648

ISBN-13: 1932504028

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C++ For Artists The Art, Philosophy, and Science of Object-Oriented Programming takes a refreshing and sometimes controversial approach to the complex topic of object-oriented programming and the C++ language. Intended as both a classroom and reference t