Tag: Teleonomy

Tabby mackerel Cat. Curious cute male cat playing in the garden

^{Type
post

News
Date
June 11, 2024

Categorized
Biology, Evolution, Philosophy

Tagged
Colin Pittendrigh (1918–1996), Evolution methods, Goodhart’s Law, Jonathan Bartlett on teleonomy, Teleology, Teleonomy, Yohan John}

How Do We Know If Something in Nature Is Purposeful?

_{Jonathan Bartlett considered the question recently in Cambridge’s Behavioral and Brain Sciences journal} _{News
June 11, 2024

4

Biology, Evolution, Philosophy}

Some biologists argue that purpose in nature is only “apparent” but, as Bartlett notes, there are philosophical and evidence problems with that approach. Read More ›

^{Type
post

News
Date
April 26, 2019

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Antibiotic resistance, Bacteria, free will, Teleonomy}

Even Bacteria Are Purpose-Driven

_{The recent finding that bacteria can make individual decisions may help design better antibiotics} _{News
April 26, 2019

4

Natural Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind}

Does this mean that bacteria have free will? Not really; as Michael Egnor reminds us, free will is an immaterial quality of the reasoning mind. Life forms that lack a reasoning mind make decisions based only on their needs or desires.