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Teleology (Greek: telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. It is traditionally contrasted with philosophical naturalism, which views nature as lacking design or purpose. In opposition to this, teleology holds there is a final cause or purpose inherent in all beings. There are two types of such causes, intrinsic finality and extrinsic finality. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action. ... Naturalism is any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism, that reject the validity of explanations or theories making use of entities inaccessible to natural science. ... Intrinsic finality is the idea that there is a natural good for all beings, and that all beings have a natural tendency to pursue their own good. ... Extrinsic finality is a principle of the philosophy of teleology that holds that a being has an inherent final cause or purpose external to that being itself, in contrast to an intrinsic finality, or self-contained purpose. ...

Historically, teleology may be identified with Aristotelianism and the scholastic tradition in philosophy, again, made central to speculative philosophy by Hegel. The rationale of teleology was explored in detail by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Judgement. Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (IPA: ) (August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher and, with Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, one of the representatives of German idealism. ... Kant redirects here. ... The Critique of Judgement (Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1790), also known as the third critique, is a philosophical work by Immanuel Kant. ...

In theology, "intelligent design" is a teleological argument for the existence of God. In bioethics, teleology is used to describe a utilitarian view that an action's ethical right or wrong is based on the balance of good or bad consequences. Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ... A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design and/or direction in nature. ... Bioethics is the ethics of biological science and medicine. ... This article discusses utilitarian ethical theory. ...

Teleology versus philosophical naturalism

Teleology traditionally is contrasted with philosophical naturalism, which views nature as lacking design or purpose. Teleology would argue that a person has eyes because he has the need of eyesight, form follows function, while naturalism is the reverse of this position: it would say that a person has sight simply because he has eyes, or that function follows form (eyesight follows from having eyes). Organisms with eyes may be more successful at interacting with the world, so organisms with eyes survive long enough to produce offspring whereas organisms without eyes die without offspring. Naturalism is any of several philosophical stances, typically those descended from materialism and pragmatism, that reject the validity of explanations or theories making use of entities inaccessible to natural science. ... Form follows function is a principle associated with Modern architecture and industrial design in the 20th Century, which states that the shape of a building or object should be predicated on its intended purpose. ...

Two classic examples of these opposing views are found in Aristotle and Lucretius, the former as a supporter of teleology and the latter as a supporter of what is now often called philosophical naturalism, or accidentalism: For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (c. ... Accidentalism is a term with several meanings. ...

Extrinsic and intrinsic finality

Teleology depends on the concept of a final cause or purpose inherent in all beings. There are two types of such causes, intrinsic finality and extrinsic finality.

• Extrinsic finality consists of a being realizing a purpose outside that being, for the utility and welfare of other beings. For instance, minerals are "designed" to be used by plants which are in turn "designed" to be used by animals.
• Intrinsic finality consists of a being realizing a purpose by means of a natural tendency directed toward the perfection of its own nature. In essence, it is what is "good for" a being. For example, physical masses obey universal gravitational tendencies, which did not evolve, but are simply a cosmic "given". Similarly, life is intended to behave in certain ways so as to preserve itself from death, disease, and pain.

Over-emphasizing extrinsic finality is often criticized as leading to the anthropic attribution of every event to a divine purpose, or superstition. For instance, "If I hadn't been at the store today, I wouldn't have found that $100 on the ground. God must have intended for me to go to the store so I would find that money." or "We won the game today because I wore my lucky socks." Such abuses were criticized by Francis Bacon ("De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum," III, iv), Descartes ("Principia Philosophiæ", I, 28; III, 2, 3; "Meditationes", III, IV), and Spinoza (Ethica, I, prop. 36 app.). Extrinsic finality is a principle of the philosophy of teleology that holds that a being has an inherent final cause or purpose external to that being itself, in contrast to an intrinsic finality, or self-contained purpose. ... Intrinsic finality is the idea that there is a natural good for all beings, and that all beings have a natural tendency to pursue their own good. ... In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle states that we should take into account the constraints that our existence as observers imposes on the sort of universe that we could observe. ... For other uses, see Superstition (disambiguation). ... Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English astrologer, philosopher, statesman, spy, freemason and essayist. ... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596 – February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, worked as a philosopher and mathematician. ... Baruch Spinoza Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 - February 21, 1677), named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Spinoza or Bento dEspiñoza in the community in which he grew up. ... Ethics is a philosophical book written by Baruch Spinoza. ...

Intrinsic finality, while more subtle, provides the basis for the teleological argument for the existence of God and or some supernatural force, and its modern counterpart, intelligent design. However, some argue that in the limited context of biology this argument can be turned on its head by Darwinism. The American philosopher Daniel Dennett devoted his book Darwin's Dangerous Idea to outlining the profound implications of this counter-intuitive inversion. Proponents of teleology argue that it does not resolve a fundamental defect in philosophical naturalism. They argue that naturalism focuses exclusively on the immediate causes and mechanisms of events, and does not attend to the reason for their synthesis. For example, if we take a clock apart, we discover in it nothing but springs, wheels, pivots, levers etc. But having explained the mechanism which causes the revolutions of the hands on the dial, is it reasonable to say that the clock was not made to keep time? A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design and/or direction in nature. ... For other uses, see Intelligent design (disambiguation). ...

Philosophers of science respond that, since Aristotle, biology has been profoundly concerned with the ways function constrains structure, and that the arrival of Darwinian evolutionary theory did not alter this concern. A classic and early example is Darwin's interest in functional constraints on the evolutionary development of the beaks of Galapagos finches. Of these birds, Darwin wrote, "Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends. " (Origin of Species, chapter 19) The 1859 edition of On the Origin of Species First published in 1859, The Origin of Species (full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) by British naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the pivotal...

Classical Greek teleology

Plato summarized the argument for teleology as follows in Phaedo, arguing that it is error to fail to distinguish between the ultimate Cause, and the mere means by which the ultimate Cause acts: For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Platos Phaedo (IPA: , Greek: Φαίδων, Phaidon) is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. ...

Thus, it is argued, those who attempt to explain nature in terms of nature alone are forced to deny the ultimate binding Good in the universe, and hope that they will someday discover a stronger supporting argument (for example, "Atlas", natural selection, or a grand unified theory) to hold their universe together.

Similarly, Aristotle argued that it is error to attempt to reduce all things to mere necessity, because such thinking neglects the purpose, order, and "final cause" that causes the apparent necessity. He wrote:

In addition to the final cause, Aristotle's analysis speaks of the material cause, efficient cause, and formal cause. ‎ Democritus (Greek: ) was a pre-Socratic Greek materialist philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca. ... The Material Cause, that out of which the statue is made, is the marble or bronze. ... The efficient cause is a philosophical concept proposed by Aristotle. ... Formal cause is a concept used by Aristotle, and originates from the idea of the form by Plato and Socrates. ...

Modern/postmodern philosophy

Historically, teleology may be identified with the philosophical tradition of Aristotelianism. The rationale of teleology was explored by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Judgement and, again, made central to speculative philosophy by Hegel and the various neo-Hegelian schools. In this interpretation of the history of our species on this globe — an interpretation some consider to be at variance with Darwin, the dialectical materialism of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and with what is now called analytic philosophy — the point of departure is not so much formal logic and scientific fact but 'identity'. (In Hegel's terminology: 'objective spirit'.) Individual human consciousness, in the process of reaching for autonomy and freedom, has no choice but to deal with an obvious reality: the collective identities (the multiplicity of world views, ethnic, cultural and national identities) which divide the human race both now and in the past, and which set off (and always have set off) different groups of people against each other in violent conflict. Hegel conceived of the 'totality' of mutually antagonistic world-views and life-forms in history as being 'goal-driven', i.e. oriented towards an end-point in history in which the 'objective contradiction' of 'subject' and 'object' would eventually 'sublate' into a form of life which has left violent conflict behind it. This goal-oriented, 'teleological' notion of the 'historical process as a whole' is present in a variety of 20th Century authors, from Lukács and Jaspers to Horkheimer and Adorno. Aristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. ... Kant redirects here. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (IPA: ) (August 27, 1770 – November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher and, with Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, one of the representatives of German idealism. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a 19th century philosopher, political economist, and revolutionary. ... Engels redirects here. ... Analytic philosophy (sometimes, analytical philosophy) is a generic term for a style of philosophy that came to dominate English-speaking countries in the 20th century. ... Hegelianism is a philosophy developed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel which can be summed up by a favorite motto by Hegel, the rational alone is real, which means that all reality is capable of being expressed in rational categories. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Georg Lukács (April 13, 1885 – June 4, 1971) was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic in the tradition of Western Marxism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg Max Horkheimer (February 14, 1895 – July 7, 1973) was a Jewish-German philosopher and sociologist, known especially as the founder and guiding thinker of the Frankfurt School of critical theory. ... Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg. ...

According to Jean-François Lyotard (1979) teleology and "grand narratives" are eschewed in a postmodern attitude. Teleology may be viewed as reductive, exclusionary and harmful to those whose stories are erased.^[3] Against this, Alasdair MacIntyre has argued that a narrative understanding of one's self is liberatory, in understanding one's capacity as an independent reasoner and, also, in understanding one's dependence on others and on the social practices and traditions in which one participates. Social practices may be understood as teleologically orientated to internal goods. For example, practices of philosophical and scientific enquiry are teleologically ordered to the elaboration of a true understanding of their objects. Although beginning with his book After Virtue, which famously dismissed the naturalistic teleology of Aristotle's 'metaphysical biology', MacIntyre has cautiously moved from that book's account of a sociological teleology toward an exploration of what remains valid in a more traditional teleological naturalism. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In critical theory, and particularly postmodernism, a metanarrative is a grand overarching account, or all-encompassing story, which is thought to give order to the historical record. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (born January 12, 1929 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a philosopher primarily known for his contribution to moral and political philosophy but known also for his work in history of philosophy and theology. ... After Virtue is a highly regarded book on moral philosophy by Alasdair MacIntyre published in 1981 with a second edition appearing in 1984. ...

Science

It has been claimed that within the framework of thermodynamics, the irreversibility of macroscopic processes is explained in a teleological way.^[4] Thermodynamics (from the Greek θερμη, therme, meaning heat and δυναμις, dynamis, meaning power) is a branch of physics that studies the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on physical systems at the macroscopic scale by analyzing the collective motion of their particles using statistics. ... Irreversibility is that property of an event which makes reverting back to the state before the occurrence of the event impossible. ...

Anthropic principle

In recent decades, a form of teleological reasoning has reappeared in certain quarters of physics and cosmology, under the heading of anthropic principle, a term Brandon Carter coined in 1973. One of the problems the anthropic principle tries to address is this: Why did the universe begin in a very simple state (Big Bang) but has since grown ever more complex, to the extent that it is hospitable to human life, even more so than is necessary for survival -- for example, advanced human civilization? A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... This article is about the physics subject. ... In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle states that we should take into account the constraints that our existence as observers imposes on the sort of universe that we could observe. ... Brandon Carter is a theoretical physicist, most famous for his work on the properties of black holes and for introducing the anthropic principle. ... For other uses, see Big Bang (disambiguation). ...

Philosophy of science

Contemporary accounts of teleology within biology are heavily influenced by Larry Wright's "etiological" account of teleology.^[5] Wright sought to supply a definition of "function" that could be applied to natural phenomena as well as human artifacts - that is, human constructions such as a hammer. Most contemporary accounts of teleology follow in the steps of Wright's etiological account (Ruth Millikan^[6] for instance^[7]). There is, however, disagreement over its use. Some, such as Godfrey-Smith^[8] and Ernst Mayr,^[9] object to any sort of etiological theory of teleology that attempts to explain both natural phenomena as well as human artifacts. Their accounts are therefore naturalistic accounts of teleology. Larry Wright was a cartoonist known for his editorial cartoons. ... Ruth Garrett Millikan (1933-) is a well-known American philosopher of biology, psychology, and language. ... Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (July 5, 1904, Kempten, Germany – February 3, 2005, Bedford, Massachusetts U.S.), was one of the 20th centurys leading evolutionary biologists. ... This article is about the medical term. ...

For a very detailed discussion of this resurgence of teleology in natural science, see Barrow and Tipler (1986). Their work includes:

• A review of much of the intellectual history of teleology and design arguments.
• A chapter on the teleological implications of earth science and chemistry, with special reference to the work of Lawrence Joseph Henderson;
• A discussion of the implications of evolutionary biology for teleology, emphasizing the writings of Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ernst Mayr;
• Teleological speculations on the ultimate fate of the universe.

The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... Lawrence Joseph Henderson (b. ... Theodosius Grigorevich Dobzhansky (Russian — Феодосий Григорьевич Добржанский; sometimes anglicized to Theodore Dobzhansky; January 25, 1900 - December 18, 1975) was a noted geneticist and evolutionary biologist. ... Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (July 5, 1904, Kempten, Germany – February 3, 2005, Bedford, Massachusetts U.S.), was one of the 20th centurys leading evolutionary biologists. ... The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. ...

Technology

Teleology has a long history in the study of purpose in human creations such as technology. The study of "teleological mechanisms" in machinery (i.e. machines with corrective feedback) dates back at least to the late 1700s when James Watt's steam engine was equipped with a governor. Events and trends The Bonneville Slide blocks the Columbia River near the site of present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon with a land bridge 200 feet (60 m) high. ... For other persons named James Watt, see James Watt (disambiguation). ... A governor is a device used to measure and regulate the speed of a machine, such as an engine. ...

More recently, Julian Bigelow, Arturo Rosenblueth, and Norbert Wiener conceived of teleology in machinery as being a feedback mechanism. Wiener, a mathematician, coined the term 'cybernetics' to denote the study of "teleological mechanisms," which was popularized through his book Cybernetics, or control and communication in the animal and machine (1948). Cybernetics is the study of the communication and control of regulatory feedback, both in living beings and machines, and in combinations of the two. </gallery>Julian Bigelow (1913 - February 21, 2003 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a pioneering computer engineer. ... Arturo Rosenblueth (* October 2, 1900 in Ciudad Guerrero, Chihuahua- † September 20, 1970 in Mexico City) was a Mexican researcher, physician and physiologist. ... Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894, Columbia, Missouri – March 18, 1964, Stockholm Sweden) was an American theoretical and applied mathematician. ... For the superhero, see Feedback (Dark Horse Comics). ... For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). ... For the Bobby Womack album, see Communication (1972 album). ... For control theory in psychology and sociology, see control theory (sociology). ... For the superhero, see Feedback (Dark Horse Comics). ...

In systemics and engineering, teleological is frequently used as equivalent to goal-oriented, goal-driven, goal-based or purposive, it means that human or artificial entity applies a method where the attributes of the goal of activity are used for the specification of particular design, reasoning or acting steps (according to the Gadomski's TOGA meta-theory,1993, where teleological represents the subjective requirement for every intelligent system). In such sense, for example, all engineering is, by definition, teleological, as well as, every human rational mental act is also oriented on a goal. Systems theory or general systems theory or systemics is an interdisciplinary field which studies systems as a whole. ... Engineering is the discipline of acquiring and applying knowledge of design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. ... A system, person, or organization that tends to achieve a goal and demonstrate it in subsequent actions. ... Look up attribute in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An objective or goal is a personal or organizational desired end point in development. ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ... Reasoning is the mental (cognitive) process of looking for reasons to support beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. ... A metatheory is a theory which concerns itself with another theory, or theories. ...

Teleonomy

In recent years, end-driven teleology has become contrasted with "apparent" teleology, i.e teleonomy or process-driven systems. Specific feature identified as having a purpose, relating to teleology which studies purposes or ends in general, often related to theistic ideology as used in arguments against evolution, such as the eye is complicated, so has teleonomy, so theres a God. ...

See also

• anthropic principle
• Causality
• The chicken or the egg
• Cybernetics
• Destiny
• Dysteleology
• Elohim
• Ed Ricketts
• Efficient cause, final cause
• Emergence
• Moirae
• Naturalism (philosophy)
• Orthogenesis
• Purpose
• Rationalism
• Teleological argument

In physics and cosmology, the anthropic principle states that we should take into account the constraints that our existence as observers imposes on the sort of universe that we could observe. ... Causality or causation denotes the relationship between one event (called cause) and another event (called effect) which is the consequence (result) of the first. ... The chicken or the egg is a reference to the causality dilemma which arises from the expression which came first, the chicken or the egg? Since the chicken emerges from an egg, and the egg is laid by a chicken, it is ambiguous which originally gave rise to the other. ... For other uses, see Cybernetics (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Destiny (disambiguation). ... Dysteleology is the philosophical view that existence has no telos, or final cause. ... This article is about the Hebrew word. ... Edward Flanders Robb Ricketts (May 14, 1897 - May 11, 1948) commonly known as Ed Ricketts, was an American marine biologist, ecologist, and philosopher. ... The efficient cause is a philosophical concept proposed by Aristotle. ... Final cause is one of Aristotles four forms of causation (the others being material, formal, and efficient). ... A termite cathedral mound produced by a termite colony: a classic example of emergence in nature. ... For other meanings, see Fate, a disambiguation page. ... This article is about methodological naturalism. ... Orthogenesis, orthogenetic evolution or autogenesis, is the hypothesis that life has an innate tendency to move in a unilinear fashion due to some internal or external driving force. The hypothesis is based on Essentialism, finalism and cosmic teleology and proposes an intrinsic drive which slowly transforms species. ... Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action. ... In epistemology and in its broadest sense, rationalism is any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification (Lacey 286). ... A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design and/or direction in nature. ...

References

1. ^ De Partibus Animalium On the Parts of Animals, IV, xii, 694b; 13
2. ^ De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), IV, 833; cf. 822-56. William Leonard's translation is very different: "Since naught is born in body so that we / May use the same, but birth engenders use".
3. ^ Lochhead, Judy (2000). Postmodern Music/Postmodern Thought, p. 6. (ISBN 0-8153-3820-1)
4. ^ J.S. Wicken, Causal Explanations in Classical and Statistical Thermodynamics, Philosophy of Science, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Mar., 1981), pp. 65-77
5. ^ Wright, Larry. Teleological Explanations: An Etiological Analysis of Goals and Functions, (University of California Press, 1976). Also see Wright, Larry. The Case Against Teleological Reductionism. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (Vol. 19, No. 3 [Nov. 1968]) and Wright, Larry. Functions, The Philosophical Review (Vol. 83, No. 2 [Apr., 1973]), pp. 139-168.
6. ^ Millikan, Ruth. Varieties of Meaning (The 2002 Jean Nicod Lectures) (Cambridge, Mass : MIT Press, 2004)
7. ^ For a collection of essays mostly in the line of Wright's thought, see David J. Buller, Function, Selection, and Design (State University of New York Press, 1999)
8. ^ Godfrey-Smith, Functions: Consensus Without Unity
9. ^ Mayr, Ernst. The Idea of Teleology, Journal of the History of Ideas (Vol. 53 [Jan./Mar. 1992]), pp. 117-135.

On the Parts of Animals (or De Partibus Animalium) is a text by Aristotle. ... Not to be confused with The Nature of Things, a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television show about natural science. ...

Further reading

• Aristotle, Metaphysics Book Theta (translated with an introduction and commentary by Stephen Makin), Oxford University Press, 2006. (ISBN 0-19-875108-7 / 978-0-19-875108-3)
• John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, Oxford University Press, 1986. (ISBN 0-19-282147-4)
• Julian Bigelow, Arturo Rosenblueth, and Norbert Wiener, 1943, "Behavior, Purpose and Teleology," Philosophy of Science 10: 18-24.
• Monte Ransome Johnson, Aristotle on Teleology, Oxford University Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-19-928530-6 / 978-0-19-928530-3)
• Kelvin Knight, Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre, Polity Press, 2007. (ISBN 978-0-7456-1977-4 / 0-745-61977-0)
• Georg Lukacs. History and Class Consciousness. (ISBN 0-262-62020-0)
• Horkheimer and Adorno. Dialectic of Enlightenment. (ISBN 0-8047-3632-4)
• Alasdair MacIntyre, 'First Principles, Final Ends, and Contemporary Philosophical Issues', in idem., The Tasks of Philosophy: Selected Essays, Volume 1, Cambridge University Press, 2006. (ISBN 978-0-521-67061-6 / 0-521-67061-6)
• Herbert Marcuse. Hegel's Ontology and the Theory of Historicity. (ISBN 0-262-13221-4)
• Lowell Nissen, Teleological Language in the Life Sciences, Rowman & Littlefield, 1997 (ISBN 0-8476-8694-9)