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Webster 1913 Edition
Teleology
Teˊle-ol′o-gy
,Noun.
[Gr. [GREEK],
τελεος
, the end or issue + -logy
: cf. F. téléologie
.] The doctrine of the final causes of things
; specif. (Biol.)
, the doctrine of design, which assumes that the phenomena of organic life, particularly those of evolution, are explicable only by purposive causes, and that they in no way admit of a mechanical explanation or one based entirely on biological science; the doctrine of adaptation to purpose.
Webster 1828 Edition
Teleology
TELEOL'OGY
,Noun.
Definition 2024
teleology
teleology
English
Noun
teleology (countable and uncountable, plural teleologies)
- (philosophy) The study of the purpose or design of natural occurrences.
- (by extension) An instance of such a design or purpose, usually in natural phenomena.
- 2011, Paul A. Rahe, Truths You Cannot Utter:
- In short, what every student of biology knows – that within nature there is a teleology having to do with the survival of the species which underpins the distinction between the two sexes and produces between them a natural affinity for one another – no surgeon who knows what is good for him may now say.
- 2011, Paul A. Rahe, Truths You Cannot Utter:
- The use of a purpose or design rather than the laws of nature to explain an occurrence.
Related terms
Translations
study of the purpose of occurrences
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use of purpose to explain occurrence
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