A Functional Account of the Progress in Early Genetics

Abstract

In this chapter, I argue that the exemplar-based approach motivates a new functional approach to scientific progress, which makes a better account of the progress in the history of genetics. First of all, motivated by the exemplar-based approach, I propose a new functional approach to scientific progress, in which scientific progress is defined in terms of usefulness of problem-defining and problem-solving. Secondly, I further develop a functional account of the progress in early genetics. Thirdly, I argue that the new functional approach well resolves the problems of the traditional functional approach. Fourthly, I highlight the advantages of my new functional account over the epistemic and semantic accounts and dismiss some potential objections to my account.