Own Goal: an Introduction to Teleology (In-Person)

Does everything happen for a reason? The question occurs perennially in almost every domain of inquiry—from religion and philosophy to biology, medicine and computer science—and appears under many guises. Does history, humanity, or the cosmos itself unfold in accordance with some grand design or towards some predetermined end? This is the essential question of teleology, the study of goals or ends and their role as causes or explanations of seemingly goal-directed phenomena. Long associated with premodern ways of thinking, teleology nevertheless remains a controversial hypothesis among philosophers and scientists in debates on developmental biology, evolutionary theory, the nature of intelligence and rationality, the meaning of history, and more. What accounts for the tenacity of this ancient idea, and how can an appeal to goals illuminate contemporary investigations into nature, life, and mind?

This course will be an introduction to teleology, its history, and its applications to contemporary theoretical problems. We’ll begin with its earliest articulation in Socrates’ famous question in Plato’s Phaedo—is the earth located where it is in the universe not just because it must be, but because it’s better that way?—and Aristotle’s theory of the final cause. Turning from its ancient origins, we’ll look at the fate of teleological explanation in modernity, when philosophers like Leibniz and Kant defended final causes against the attacks of theorists like Descartes and Spinoza, and when scientists like William Harvey and Charles Darwin formulated advances in biology by appeal to teleological concepts like function and selective advantage. We’ll also look at the application of teleology to contemporary problems in ethics, the philosophy of mind, and artificial intelligence. Additional readings may be drawn from Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Stephen Jay Gould, Ruth Millikan, and more.