Ontology and Teleofunctions: A Defense and Revision of the Systematic Account of Teleological Explanation

5 ABSTRACT. I defend and revise the systematic account of normative functions 6 (teleofunctions), as recently developed by Gerhard Schlosser and by W. D. Chris7 tensen and M. H. Bickhard. This account proposes that teleofunctions are had by 8 structures that play certain kinds of roles in complex systems. This theory is an 9 alternative to the historical etiological account of teleofunctions, developed by Ruth 10 Millikan and others. The historical etiological account is susceptible to a general 11 ontological problem that has been under-appreciated, and that offers important 12 reasons to adopt the systematic account. However, the systematic account must be 13 revised to allow for two distinct kinds of teleofunctions in order to avoid another 14 ontological problem. 15