title: Functional anatomy: a taxonomic proposal.
abstract: It is argued that medical science requires a classificatory system that (a) puts functions in the taxonomic center and (b) does justice ontologically to the difference between the processes which are the realizations of functions and the objects which are their bearers. We propose formulae for constructing such a system and describe some of its benefits. The arguments are general enough to be of interest to all the life sciences.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Formal Ontology and Medical Information Science, University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Postfach 151150, D-66041, Germany. ingvar.johansson@ifomis.uni-saarland.de
authors.forename: Ingvar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Munn
authors.forename: Nikoloz
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsikolia
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Elsner
authors.forename: Dominikus
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Siebert
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000145:classification*; D000818:Animals; D001690:Biological Science Disciplines; D002965:Classification; D006801:Humans; D010684:Philosophy; D010829:Physiological Phenomena