196 Marzia Soavi
function. On the basis of this general presumption, we modulate our behavior, our choices
of means, and our laws.
11.6 A Function for Artifact Kinds
Up until now, F has been treated like a black box. I argue that the naïve view that artifact
kinds are functional kinds seems to be easier to defend if we adopt a criterion for function
attribution that is based on the intentions of the producers of the object. It is important to
reassert that I do not want to deny the possibility that sometimes we do attribute function
to some version of (1) and (2). Nonetheless, I pursue the strategy of trying to account for
artifact kinds as functional kinds by adopting a type (3) criterion that is less problematic
and can meet certain strong intuitions we share on artifacts.
In detail, my approach to artifact kinds is (a) to adopt the idea that artifact kinds are
functional kinds: o is an object of artifact kind K iff o has the function F; (b) to give an
account of a function attribution for the categorization of artifacts of the following type:
o has the function F iff o has been intentionally produced for F; and (c) to take F in the
present formulation as a placeholder for a certain triple. The triple I propose is the
following:
(T) 〈Input-Output, System of Interaction, Object Structure〉 or 〈I-O, S-I, O-S〉
Hence (3) becomes
3 ′. o is an object of artifact kind K iff o has been produced for 〈I-O, S-I, O-S〉
My proposal is based on the idea that the intentions of artifact designers share the same
general structure. Intuitively the production of an object of a certain artifact kind is always
aimed at the realization of an object with certain dispositions. These dispositions are speci-
fi ed according to (T). (T) determines the kind.
(T) includes elements that in some contexts can be referred to as the function of an
object. It is necessary to bear in mind that function can be used in many different ways
and that in every context it is necessary to be clear about the use of the term that is
adopted.
The fi rst element of the triple is Input-Output. It corresponds to the most classical way
of referring to functions, a way that is common in mathematics as well as in the notion
of “function” applied to objects. A mathematical function is something that maps argu-
ments to values. In a similar way the function of an object is, in the input-output sense,
the disposition of an object to realize a certain fi nal state given certain initial conditions.
Commonly when we say that the function of a knife is to cut something, that the function
of keys is to open and close locks, and so on, we use this characterization of function.
It is worth observing that ordinarily when we refer to functional kinds we adopt an