What does teleology/teleological mean (ie a teleological explanation)?

Question

A doctor (while giving me a physical) recently said to me that we needn't have to look for teleological explanations for my condition. I looked at many web sites, but not one could provide a simple and succinct definition of what a teleological explanation means. All the definitions seemed to be written in a sort of philosophical "double talk" involving ends, purposes, design. I have to believe that a very simple and universally understandable definition exists. (As Einstein once said, genius is taking the complex and making it simple.)

Here is an example sentence from the New Yorker magazine "One natural objection to the search for Dyson spheres is that it presupposes an endlessly consumptive technological teleology". What does teleology mean in that sentence ?

Here is another example sentence from Slate: "Committed to a teleology of progress, albeit open to the reality of historical irony, this liberalism lacks a visceral sense of the tragic." What does teleology mean in that sentence ?

Answer 1

The word "teleology" is derived from the greek words "τέλος" (télos, respectively its Genitive "τελέως" teléōs), which means goal, reason (for), aim, etc., and "λόγος" (lógos), which means reason or explanation. Teleology is, by and large, the science of purposes a thing has.

The example @Kris mentioned - the fork being formed so that it can be used for a certain purpose - is what is called an extrinsic purpose. That means, the purpose for the fork (and it being formed that way) only exists in relation to humans and ho we eat. In comparison, there might be also intrinsic purposes: a classical example would be that Aristotle claimed the purpose of an acorn is to become a full-grown oak tree.

Coming back to your question:

"One natural objection to the search for Dyson spheres is that it presupposes an endlessly consumptive technological teleology". What does teleology mean in that sentence ?

Here, "teleology" is basically just a presumptuous replacement for "purpose". Basically it says: we imply that with the advance of technology the amount of energy necessary to power that technology will always increase - here and everywhere else in the universe. And because we suppose that every (alien) civilization will need increasing amounts of energy they will inevitably come to the point where they will need Dyson spheres to get that much energy. But (this is the objection) maybe we are just wrong and the endless increase of needed energy just isn't there - and therefore these presumed aliens won't have the need to build Dyson spheres in the first place.

Answer 2

If your doctor said:

we needn't have to look for teleological explanations for my condition

then perhaps s/he was saying that you didn't need to appeal to your body's designer / Designer to explain your condition. (I'm giving an alternative depending on if you are a naturalist as opposed to theistic. A naturalist like Charles Darwin or humanist like David Hume would take the little d. A theist like Sir Isaac Newton would take the capital D.)

The Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleological_argument) says:

The teleological or physico-theological argument, also known as the argument from design, or intelligent design argument is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, for an intelligent creator based on perceived evidence of deliberate design in the natural world.

For the New Yorker article, "an endlessly consumptive technological teleology," one could perhaps substitute "teleology" with "argument from design." Perhaps the sentence is saying something like, "People object to the search for Dyson spheres because it assumes that the aliens creating these spheres did so in order to satisfy their need to design these spheres."

(And I will leave the Slate sentence untouched, agreeing with the commenter.)

Answer 3

Words ending in '-ological' are bound to be misused by someone, and teleological is a classic example of this. Indeed, it illustrates a paradoxical consequence of basing definitions on the use most widely made of long words derived from Latin or Greek. They could entrench malapropisms in the language.

The word teleological is derived from the Greek word telos (τελος), in the senses of end (both an ending and a purpose). In the Etymonline dictionary it traces the word to an 18th century German philosopher:-

"study of final causes," 1740, from Modern Latin teleologia, coined 1728 by German philosopher Baron Christian von Wolff (1679-1754) from Greek teleos "entire, perfect, complete," genitive of telos "end, goal, result" (see telos), + -logia (see -logy). Related: Teleologist; teleological.

The online definition of Cambridge English Dictionary gives the definition

(in philosophy) involving the belief that everything has a purpose or use: < a teleological argument

So the OP is rightly questioning how the use of this adjective could have anything to do with the cause, treatment or prospects of a medical condition. There are possibilities. For example, if a Doctor told a patient that their condition was 'reminder' to stop smoking, take more exercise or change diet, the use of the word reminder would deliberately make it seem as if the condition had a purpose. It would be fair to call such a usage metaphorical.

Answer 4

I think your doctor was saying that the cause of the condition doesn't need to be discovered, and that the symptoms merely need to be treated. Focus shouldn't be on why the condition exists or on the physiology that produces it and makes it progress, but on how to address it.

I'm suggesting this based on your use of the word "explanations", which I assume was you quoting or paraphrasing the doctor. Teleology in medical contexts can also refer to end-of-life scenarios. If your doctor didn't say anything about "explanations" but simply said you don't need to concern yourself about teleology, the doctor could have been reassuring you that the condition isn't fatal.

Answer 5

A doctor (while giving me a physical) recently said to me that we needn't have to look for teleological explanations for my condition.

I suspect that your doctor may have confused the word teleological, which makes little sense in this context, with etiological, which makes perfect sense. Etiological is a medical term, derived from etiology, defined by TFD as "the cause or origin of a disease or disorder as determined by medical diagnosis."