2020-21 Academic Catalog

We often explain our actions by appeal to goals or ends. For example, to explain why you run, you might state a practical end running serves - e.g., health. Such an explanation is "teleological" in character, in that it appeals to an "end" or "telos" (rather than your particular biochemical makeup). Are there good philosophical reasons for thinking that ends really operate in nature, over and above material processes, or are teleological explanations merely a heuristic or explanatory device helping us make sense of the world (but failing to capture any real feature of the world)? In the absence of a designer agent, how do we make sense of natural ends? What is the scope of natural teleology? Do natural ends operate only locally or more globally? This course explores these and related questions, through tracing the kinds of teleological explanations (and argument for teleology) philosophers, theologians and scientists employ, ranging from Presocratic natural science to contemporary biology, cosmology and philosophy. Prerequisite: 12 credits in philosophy or instructor permission