26 APhEx num 26, anno 2022

This article aims to deal with the problem of function pluralism in biology. The debate on function pluralism involves two conflicting sides: between-discipline pluralism and within-discipline pluralism. The majority of philosophers of biology are between-discipline pluralists. According to them, different theories of biological function – the selected effects theory and the causal role theory – are appropriate to different branches of biology; the selected effects theory is the most appropriate theory for evolutionary biology, while the causal role theory is the most appropriate theory for physiology – e.g., anatomy, neuroscience, and developmental genetics. On the contrary, within-discipline pluralism holds that we should seek out a plurality of functions inside any branch of biology. More precisely, according to within-discipline pluralists, selected effects functions and causal role functions can coexist within the same field. In this paper, I will introduce arguments both in favour and against between-discipline pluralism. Afterwards, I will exhibit how the arguments provided against between-discipline pluralism motivate within-discipline pluralism. Finally, I will develop an argument that may be of help to prove the case of within-discipline pluralism.

Ronald Dworkin (1931-2013) has been one of the most influential among political and legal philosophers of our time. This profile offers a critical and diachronic reading of his main theses in the field of jurisprudence: the first is the rights thesis; the second is the thesis of the law as interpretation; the third is the thesis of the law as a branch of political morality.

The Anthropocene is a theoretical proposal for the denomination of the current geological epoch, in which the human species is regarded as a new "force of nature". This contribution aims to present, firstly, the philosophical debate elaborated on this concept, and then to proceed with the analysis of the humanity-nature dualistic logic, present both in the notion of Anthropocene and in the ongoing ecologic crisis. This will make it possible to underline the constructive value of a reflection on the Anthropocene concerning the understanding of human nature in an era characterized by anthropogenic environmental changes.