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    Systemic explanations of biological wholes are multiply r... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Systemic concepts of function do permit attributions of malfunction.

    Systemic explanations of biological wholes are multiply realizable, so no single token component has a privileged 'role' against which deviation counts as malfunction.

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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Hearts, kidneys, and lungs perform their functions through different physical mechanisms in different species, yet all count as healthy.
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    • 2.If malfunction required deviation from a privileged role, we'd need to specify which physical implementation counts as canonical—but none is metaphysically distinguished.
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    • 3.Systems maintain their identity through functional organization, not material composition, so multiple token realizations can equally constitute proper function.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.An individual organism's kidney can malfunction while kidneys in general remain multiply realizable—the token instance still has a privileged evolutionary history.
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    • 2.Multiple realizability at the type-level doesn't entail every token implementation is equally functional; this token liver can still fail at its actual role.
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    • 3.Biological systems have actual historical origins in natural selection that establish what counts as proper function for that token component regardless of alternatives.
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    Related

    An individual organism's kidney can malfunction while kidneys in general remain ...Biological systems have actual historical origins in natural selection that esta...Hearts, kidneys, and lungs perform their functions through different physical me...If malfunction required deviation from a privileged role, we'd need to specify w...
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    Multiple realizability at the type-level doesn't entail every token implementati...Systemic concepts of function do permit attributions of malfunction.Systems maintain their identity through functional organization, not material co...

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