Can goal-directedness be operationalized to be scientifically productive? Does our normative framework for analyzing goal-directedness make this possible?
We will apply the ideas from our current "Mistakes in Living Systems" project to the investigation of nest building in zebra finches (genus Taeniopygia). The core proposal is that the actions of biological systems and organisms are subject to normative standards, such as whether they are directed correctly towards biological goals. Mistakes are departures from these normative standards.
Nests are of central interest to philosophical and scientific enquiry for many reasons, including their critical role in reproductive fitness and the requirement that they be completed to a quality standard prior to production of live chicks. Zebra finches build nests in pairs, thus enabling us to examine the social organization of goal-directed behaviors.
We will use established experimental methods to examine the hypotheses that zebra finches compensate for variations in nest conditions consistent with their correcting departures from a standard for the nest, and that they show evidence of evaluating their mate’s nest building capacity based both reproductive outcomes and on how well they build.
This project is needed because the ontological status of the phenomenon of goal-directedness, including its inherent normativity, and the coherence and scientific utility of the concept, are widely contested.
