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What is teleology?

Teleology is a philosophical approach that states that all being and all change must be explained in terms of “why” they exist or are modified.

Teleology is a word composed of two Greek roots: telos which means ‘end’ and logos which means ‘treaty or explanation’. So, generally speaking, teleology It is an area of ​​philosophy that studies the ends or purposes of a being or an object. This is also the name given to the approach that seeks to explain the ultimate causes of a reality.

Although teleology as a term appeared when Wolff coined it in 1728, this field of analysis emerged with the first Greek philosophers. The first to speak on the subject was Plato and then Aristotle took it up from a critical perspective.

Teleology as such has been linked to metaphysics and that is why we find it in some reasoning with a religious background, such as those that identify God as the ultimate cause of everything. In today’s world, it also appears linked to hypotheses of the supernatural origin of reality.

So, since things are thought to happen either by coincidence or for a purpose, and since it is not possible for them to happen by coincidence or be due to chance, they will then happen for a purpose.”.

-Aristotle-

The overview of teleology

In philosophy There are basically two main theories to explain the changes that occur in nature.. The first of them is the finalist, associated with teleology, and the second is the mechanistic. The teleological position points out that a change can only be understood if the link between it and the ultimate cause that produces it can be established. The mechanistic approach, for its part, indicates that the cause of changes is the immediate or mediate physical influence of the elements that make up the material world.

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The teleological explanation prevailed throughout the Middle Ages. The idea prevailed that the final cause of all phenomena was found in the divine mysteries. This was one of the axes of the doctrine that predominated at that time, which is known as scholasticism.

Such scholasticism was both a theology and a philosophy. The medieval period being a critical point in it, Saint Thomas Aquinas and his reinterpretation of Aristotelian philosophy stand out in an attempt to reconcile the new translations of Averroes. A paradigm in which logical or physical truths were only an instrument to support the truths of faith. The ultimate cause of everything was God and in him the explanations for different phenomena had to be sought.

Aristotle and teleology

As we already noted, Plato was perhaps the first renowned thinker to go through the bar of teleology. However, it was Aristotle who delved into the topic and articulated it in a logical manner. This great Greek philosopher pointed out that changes can occur due to three factors: nature, art or technique, and chance..

From his approach, changes caused by nature, art or technology require that a purpose be established. That is to say that there is a purpose in all beings and objects and in the changes they experience. Everything happens for something or for something. In this way, Aristotle proposes the existence of four possible causes:

material cause. It refers to what something is composed of.formal cause. What characterizes or gives the differentiated being to an object.efficient cause. It is properly the cause, that is, that which has given rise to an object.final cause. This is the concept most related to teleology and refers to that for which an object exists.

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From this rationalization, Aristotle concludes that every form of natural existence has a purpose. This purpose is determined by its form or its essence, as well as by what it aspires to be, which is called “power.” Even inorganic beings are protected by this principle, since if a stone falls, it does so because its purpose is to be on the ground, which is its natural place.

Today, the term “teleological” refers to the development of technology for specific purposes, such as educational resources in a school or genetic engineering.

Mechanism and scientific explanation

When the Modern Age began, teleology was questioned. Explained simply, It was proposed that the final causes were constructions of the human mindbut this did not mean that the universe functioned based on what we human beings designated.

Mechanism then emerged, a position in which The aim is to explain what happens in nature on the basis of efficient causes., that is, the factors associated with the phenomenon itself and not with what is in the mind of the observer. This made possible the birth of experimental science.

Even with the doctrine of the Church in force, it was proposed that knowing the designs of God was only possible through the study of the causes of natural phenomena.

From these premises, what would later become the scientific method was developed. and epistemology, which is the branch of philosophy that analyzes and validates it. From that perspective, all explanations must have the same logical form and obey precise laws to be valid. This was the paradigm that was imposed on teleology in the field of knowledge.

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All cited sources were reviewed in depth by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, validity and validity. The bibliography in this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.

Ross, A. (2018). Teleology and nature in Aristotle. Synthesis. Journal of Philosophy, 1(2), 101-121.Huang, D. (2022). Normativity and Teleology in Husserl’s Genetic Phenomenology. Husserl Studies, 38(1), 17-35.Spaemann, R. (1991). Natural teleology and action. Marcos, A. (2012). Contemporary figures of teleology. Philosophical Dialogue, 28(83), 4-32.

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