Teleology

Research

Explanation in terms of final causes, ends, or purposes — why something happens rather than how; Aristotle's four causes culminate in the final cause, or telos, and teleological reasoning risks smuggling in purpose where none may exist.

Sources

1. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — “Teleological Notions in Biology”, Colin Allen and Jacob Neal (first published 20 March 1996; substantive revision 6 February 2026) plato.stanford.edu accessed 22 September 2026

The Stanford Encyclopedia’s entry on teleology in biology traces the idea to “ancient origins”, noting it is prominent in “Plato’s depiction of the divine Craftsman” and in “Aristotle’s discussion of final causes in the Physics”, and draws the contrast that matters: “Plato’s teleology is mind-dependent and creationist, Aristotle’s is naturalistic and functional.” That distinction is the one to keep when reading any teleological explanation — whether a purpose is being attributed to a designer, or to the function a thing serves. The entry’s subject is biology; only its account of these origins is used here.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is cited because it carries a named author and a dated revision for each entry, so the claim is attributable to a person on a date — which is the test this lexicon applies to reference sources, and the reason an open-edit encyclopedia is not used. The application to research practice above is this lexicon’s reading.

Related terms

• Abbreviation
• Abstract
• Abstraction
• Academic Database
• Analysis
• Annotation

Rewritten from a truncated AJG archive entry, August 2026.