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Parent Node(s):
TELEOLOGY
the philosophical study of manifestations of design
or purposes in natural processes or occurrences, under the belief
that natural processes are not determined by mechanism but rather
by their utility in an overall natural design. Dysteleology is
the doctrine of purposelessness in nature. (American Heritage
Dictionary) Teleology is associated with vitalism. It explains
apparently purposeful animal behavior by saying that the action
is performed because it will later be advantageous to the animal.
Science, on the other hand, has sought to explain apparently
purposeful behavior through the theory of mechanism. The notion
that an organism contains a model of the actual world and a model
of the desired world and acts so as to make the actual world
conform to the desired world is compatible with the theory of
mechanism. (Umpleby)
Originally, the study of ends, goals and purposes. In cybernetics, the STRUCTURal and organizational conditions for systems to exhibit purposeful behavior, reach goals (see goal oriented), maintain steady states (see homeostasis), survive threats from their environments (see evolution, adaptation), etc. (Krippendorff)
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