| Article | John Symons, The Individuality of Artifacts and Organisms |
Abstract | Is there any genuine difference between organisms and artifacts? Where
and how would we identify such a difference? This paper argues the difference involves
the character of their individuality. Unlike an organism, an artifact’s individuality is (for the
most part) determined by the function that the designer selected in the artifact’s production
rather than the functional interdependence of its parts. In both cases, individuality is a
historical property and in both cases the parts may be functionally interdependent to some
extent. However, for artifacts, this interdependence is not what makes it the individual that
it is. Instead, the interdependence of its parts is in the service of the functions for which the
spear was designed. No such additional purpose or function exists for an organism. |
Keywords | Individuality, identity, artificial life |
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