Well-Functioning
In everyday language, many evaluative terms—such as "good," "bad," "well," "poorly," "properly," "improperly," "better," and "worse"—are associated with the basic concept of well-functioning. These terms are commonly applied not only to living things, but also to inanimate functional entities, and we shall begin with the latter, developing the concept of well-functioning step by step. A non-living functional entity, as Section 1 observed, is created by an organism to satisfy certain needs; its nature and very existence are explained by its function—namely, serving those needs. For example, a human builds a house in order to provide for shelter and other needs; providing for those needs is therefore the dwelling's natural function. We may say that the house functions more or less well, depending on how effectively it serves that function. In common speech, we say that a stone house is "better" than a cardboard one, since the latter would not provide effective shelter in most environments. To call the stone house "better" is not a subjective opinion, but an objective evaluation of its efficacy in the function that explains its existence. The term "better" is obviously not an ethical evaluation, since the house cannot make choices among alternatives; nevertheless, it expresses a cognitively essential characteristic of houses—that is, one that must be grasped in order fully to comprehend the nature and existence of houses.