This concept of well-functioning, it should be noted, relates to an objective standard, amenable in principle to scientific inquiry. For instance, it is a verifiable fact that an automobile is created by human beings in order to provide transportation; it may also be a verifiable fact that a broken-down automobile does not fulfill that function properly, at least in its present condition. In short, the claim that such an entity does or does not function well is not "just a matter of opinion."

Of course, one might also evaluate the automobile with respect to other possible uses. For example, one might say that the automobile "serves poorly as a house," primarily because its size and shape are not appropriate to that end. Such secondary uses of an automobile, however, are not really relevant to the existence and nature of the entity, which was created and maintained for transportation rather than for permanent shelter. By appending the qualifier "as a house" to such an evaluation, we acknowledge that shelter is not the most natural or appropriate standard for judgments about that entity.