Can a function be ascribed to the immune system?
Can a function be ascribed to the immune system? At first glance, the immune ‘system’ is, as a system, a particularly obvious and convincing example of functional ascription: the immune system is ‘supposed’ to distinguish between self and nonself, that is, between what belongs to the organism, and what is foreign to it. This view has been defended, in particular, by Matthen and Levi (1984). Besides, in an analysis of how the immune system may dysfunction in a case like autoimmune diseases, Matthen and Levi interpret the immune system’s function in intentional terms. In my talk, I’ll try to show that: 1) It is not possible to speak of the immune system in intentional terms. 2) It is not true that the immune system distinguishes self from nonself. 3) No satisfying ascription of a function, in an etiological sense, to the immune system, has been proposed. 4) Because it seems difficult to ascribe a function to the immune system in an etiological sense, I suggest that it is more satisfactor
