Teleology

Teleology is the study of goal-directedness, purpose, or end-directed behavior in natural and artificial systems. The term derives from the Greek telos (end, goal, purpose) and names the framework within which Aristotle explained why things happen in terms of what they are for — not merely what pushed them from behind. Teleology was expelled from physics by the Scientific Revolution's mechanistic program and has since been treated as either a cognitive illusion or a heuristic fiction. But the revival of systems theory and artificial life suggests that goal-directed behavior can genuinely emerge from organizational structure without requiring an external designer or a conscious mind — a rehabilitation of teleology on naturalistic grounds that Aristotle would have recognized immediately.