Premium
Two Conceptions of Technical Malfunction
Author(s) -
JESPERSEN BJØRN,
CARRARA MASSIMILIANO
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
theoria
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.34
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1755-2567
pISSN - 0040-5825
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-2567.2010.01092.x
Subject(s) - interpretation (philosophy) , property (philosophy) , epistemology , chart , philosophy , mathematics , linguistics , statistics
The topic of this paper is the notion of technical (as opposed to biological) malfunction. It is shown how to form the property being a malfunctioning F from the property F and the property modifier malfunctioning (a mapping taking a property to a property). We present two interpretations of malfunctioning . Both interpretations agree that a malfunctioning F lacks the dispositional property of functioning as an F . However, its subsective interpretation entails that malfunctioning F s are F s, whereas its privative interpretation entails that malfunctioning F s are not F s. We chart various of their respective logical consequences and discuss some of the philosophical implications of both interpretations.