Autonomy, Function, and Representation

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        <b>Autonomy, Function, and Representation.</b>
      
      
        
      
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        <u>HTML <http://www.lehigh.edu/~mhb0/autfuncrep.html></u>
      
      
        
      
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        <i>Autonomy</i>
      
      
         is modeled in terms of the property of certain far-from-equilibrium open systems to 
        contribute toward maintaining themselves in their far-from-equilibrium conditions. Such 
        contributions in 
      
      
        <i>self-maintenant</i>
      
      
         systems, in turn, constitute the emergence of normative 
      
      
        <i>function</i>
      
      
        . The intrinsic thermodynamic asymmetry between equilibrium and far-from-equilibrium 
        processes yields the intrinsic normative asymmetry between function and dysfunction. 
        Standard etiological models of function render function as causally epiphenomenal, while 
        this model is of the emergence of causally efficacious function. 
      
      
        <i>Recursive</i>
      
      
         self-maintenance -- the meta-property of maintaining the property of being 
        self-maintenant across variations in environment -- yields the emergence of 
      
      
        <i>representation</i>
      
      
        . This model of representation satisfies multiple criteria that standard approaches -- 
        such as symbolic or connectionist, or those of Fodor, Dretske, or Millikan -- cannot. 
      
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