Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T12:33:38.067Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Teleological Explanations in Evolutionary Biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Francisco J. Ayala
Francisco J. Ayala*
Affiliation:
The Rockefeller University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The ultimate source of explanation in biology is the principle of natural selection. Natural selection means differential reproduction of genes and gene combinations. It is a mechanistic process which accounts for the existence in living organisms of end-directed structures and processes. It is argued that teleological explanations in biology are not only acceptable but indeed indispensable. There are at least three categories of biological phenomena where teleological explanations are appropriate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , March 1970 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © 1970 The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

I wish to express my appreciation to Professors Th. Dobzhansky, E. Mayr, and E. Nagel, who read an earlier version of this paper and made many valuable suggestions.

References

[1] Dobzhansky, Th., “Determinism and Indeterminism in Biological Evolution,” in Philosophical Problems in Biology (ed. Smith, E.), St. John's University Press, New York, 1966, pp. 55–66.Google Scholar
[2] Goudge, T. A., The Ascent of Life, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1961.Google Scholar
[3] Mayr, E., “Cause and Effect in Biology,” in Cause and Effect (ed. Lerner, D.), Free Press, New York, 1965, pp. 33–50.Google Scholar
[4] Nagel, E., The Structure of Science, Harcourt, Brace and World, New York, 1961.10.1119/1.1937571CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[5] Nagel, E., “Types of Causal Explanation in Science,” in Cause and Effect, (ed. Lerner, D.), Free Press, New York, 1965, pp. 11–32.Google Scholar
[6] Paley, W., Natural Theology, Charles Knight, London, 1836.Google Scholar
[7] Pittendrigh, C. S., “Adaptation, Natural Selection and Behavior,” in Behavior and Evolution (eds. Roe, A. and Simpson, G. G.), Yale University Press, New Haven, 1958, pp. 390–416.Google Scholar
[8] Randall, J. H., Aristotle, Columbia University Press, New York, 1960.10.7312/rand90400CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[9] Ross, D., Aristotle, 5th edit., Barnes and Noble, New York, 1949.Google Scholar
[10] Simpson, G. G., This View of Life, Harcourt, Brace and World, New York, 1964.Google Scholar
[11] Williams, G. C., Adaptation and Natural Selection, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1966.Google Scholar