teleological

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Plato and Aristotle both argued that nature is teleological, a term that comes from the Greek telos

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Definitions (3)

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  1. Of, pertaining to, or relating to teleology, or the doctrine of final causes; pertaining to or of the nature of a design or purpose. A teleological ground in physics and physiology: that is, the presumption of something analogous to the causality of the human will, by which, without assigning to nature a conscious purpose, he may yet distinguish her agency from a blind and lifeless mechanism. Coleridge, The Friend, ii. 10.

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Examples (50)

  • He at once wrote to the 'Athenaeum', calling attention to Hering's lecture, and then pursued his studies in evolution Life and Habit' was followed in 1879 by 'Evolution Old and New', wherein he compared the teleological or purposive view of evolution taken by Buffon, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, and Lamarck with the view taken by Charles Darwin, and came to the conclusion that the old was better. —  Samuel Butler: A Sketch
  • Plato and Aristotle both argued that nature is teleological, a term that comes from the Greek telos —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • He claimed three arguments: cosmological, teleological, and moral. —  Planet Atheism
  • All natural functional biological complexity arose through the mechanism of non-teleological heritable variation and natural selection. —  Evolution News & Views
  • From documenting our propensity to believe in teleological (purpose-based) explanations for natural phenomena to the widely held belief that humans possess a soul, a myriad of psychological studies - conducted both here at Yale and at peer universities - now suggest that our brains may be hard-wired to believe in religion. —  Yale Daily News: Latest Issue
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