1. PHILOSOPHY the explanation of phenomena in terms of the purpose they serve rather than of the cause by which they arise. "no theory of history can do without teleology" - THEOLOGY the doctrine of design and purpose in the material world. [[Aristotle]]'s '[four causes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_causes "Four causes")' give special place to the telos or "final cause" of each _thing_. In this, he followed [[Plato]] in seeing purpose in both human and nonhuman nature. [[Evolution]] is not telogical. It is random. ![[quote-purpose-teleology-richard-dawkins.jpg]]![[life-is-teleology-par-excellence-it-is-the-intrinsic-striving-towards-a-goal-and-the-carl-jung.jpg]] `Concepts:` `Knowledge Base:`