Abstract
The distinction between function and role is a vexed and difficult one. While the distinction appears to be useful, in practice it is hard to apply; this can be even worse when applying this distinction to biology. In this paper, I take an evolutionary approach, considering a series of examples, to develop and generate definitions for these concepts. I test them in practice against work performed on the Ontology for Biomedical Investigations (OBI). Finally, I give an axiomatisation and discuss methods for applying these definitions in practice.
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Lord, P. An evolutionary approach to Function. Nat Prec (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3228.1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2009.3228.1