Question

How do you think the way you do work in biology will be different from the way you worked in chemistry or physics?

Answer 1

Answer:

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Explanation:

I am an evolutionary biologist by training, before I turned to philosophy of science. And I have always been fascinated by the fact that biology seems to be on one side of what I call the “teleonomic divide” in science. Teleonomy is the appearance of purposefulness that results from some type of natural process, chiefly (exclusively, really) natural selection. The term comes from the Greek words, telos (end, goal) and nomos (law), and is crucially distinguished from teleology, where the purposefulness is not just apparent, but actual: it is either the result of a supernatural cause (“god”) or, more obviously, of human activity. The pertinent Greek words here, tellingly, are again telos (end, goal) and logos (reason, explanation).

Deploying the distinction between teleonomy and teleology, then, we could roughly divide the sciences in the following way: at one end of the spectrum, physics, chemistry, astronomy and geology are neither teleonomic nor teleologic. It makes no sense to ask what is the purpose or goal of an electron, a molecule, a planet or a mountain. At the opposite end we find clearly teleologic sciences, like psychology, sociology and economics. In these cases it is actually mandatory to ask what is the purpose behind a certain (human) behavior, social structure or economic feature, without which one would not understand what is going on.

Then there is biology, poised at the brink of these two groups. Ever since Darwin, we have ceased to think of biological systems in terms of intelligent design (pace the creationist), so teleology is out of the question. And yet, teleonomic talk not only comes natural to biologists, but seems to be indispensable to their trade: it makes perfect sense to ask what is the eye for, or what is the purpose of lungs, or what is the goal that justifies the peacock’s tail or the bowerbird’s nest.