The End of Final Causes in Biology

This book provides an introduction to teleology in biology, focusing on scientific concerns and the constraints that have shaped the field. It discusses the historical and philosophical advances in biology, including Kant, Darwin, and the Modern Synthesis, and their implications for understanding the world and science.

Format: Hardback
Length: 149 pages
Publication date: 01 November 2022
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG

This comprehensive book delves into the realm of teleology in biology, offering a straightforward yet insightful introduction to this concept. Drawing upon insights from history and philosophy, it primarily focuses on scientific concerns. During the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, biologists proposed a diverse range of biological "actors" to explain power without resorting to Aristotelian notions of vegetable souls and final causes. However, three crucial constraints narrowed the field, leading to the selection of specific actors as they underwent mutations and recombinations. Methodological naturalism, local adaptation, and blind chance emerged as significant philosophical advancements in biology, each offering unique perspectives on the nature of life.

Kant, Darwin, and the Modern Synthesis provided a novel teleology, grounded in natural selection, an etiological recursion of form and function, and the intricate details of carbon chemistry on Earth. While these thinkers naturalized teleology, they also finalized nature, shaping our understanding of the world and science in profound ways. By exploring these interconnected historical, philosophical, and theoretical aspects, this book sets the stage for exciting new work that will further unravel the mysteries of teleology in biology.

Weight: 346g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783031140167
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022