|
The Webster's Dictionary defines Teleology (from the Greek:
telos or teleos; "an end" and ology; "study of") as 1. The study of final
causes. 2. The fact or quality of being directed toward a definite end or of
having an ultimate purpose, especially as attributed to natural systems. 3. A
belief, as in that of vitalism, that natural phenomena are determined not only
by mechanical causes but by an overall design or purpose in
nature.
Vitalism is the dirty word here. That's the connotation that is the
kiss of death in science. It basically says that only God can make a tree or
even know how one really works-- that living systems are outside the purview of
science. So my father was extremely thorough in disproving any hint of telos in
Anticipatory Systems and in presenting all his ideas via accepted channels
(mathematics, physics, systems theory, category theory, etc) even as he was
proving those channels were currently inadequate to do the job. What he was
trying to show is that one simply has to widen what is allowed in science and
then all things are possible. The prohibitions that have strangled physics'
ability to deal with biology are all artificial and unnecessary,
anyway.
Judith
|