Causal Capabilities of Teleology and Teleonomy in Life and Evolution

Abstract

Teleological causes have been generally disfavored in biological explanations because they have been thought to lack rigor or act as stand-ins for non-teleological processes which are simply not yet understood sufficiently. Teleological explanations in biology have been limited to only teleonomic causes, which are teleological causes that are due to codes or similarly reified mechanisms. However, advances in the conceptualization of teleological and teleonomic causation have allowed for more quantitative analyses of both. Additionally, although teleonomy has been historically excluded from potential causes of evolution, new research has shown that teleonomy actually plays a significant role in evolution. Combining these advances with advances in computability theory and information theory have allowed for a more rigorous and quantitative analysis of the capabilities and limitations of teleonomy in evolution.

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“…The second area of concern is that, although the authors actively work with the concepts of teleonomy, they seem to be unaware of the progress made in the relationship between teleonomy and evolution over the past decade (Corning, 2014). Although teleonomy was originally thought to not apply to evolution itself, modern work in teleonomy has actually emphasized its role in evolution (Corning et al, 2023;Bartlett, 2023).…”

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“…The second area of concern is that, although the authors actively work with the concepts of teleonomy, they seem to be unaware of the progress made in the relationship between teleonomy and evolution over the past decade (Corning, 2014). Although teleonomy was originally thought to not apply to evolution itself, modern work in teleonomy has actually emphasized its role in evolution (Corning et al, 2023;Bartlett, 2023).…”

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“…The second area of concern is that, although the authors actively work with the concepts of teleonomy, they seem to be unaware of the progress made in the relationship between teleonomy and evolution over the past decade (Corning, 2014). Although teleonomy was originally thought to not apply to evolution itself, modern work in teleonomy has actually emphasized its role in evolution (Corning et al, 2023;Bartlett, 2023).…”