Abstract
If teleological descriptions and explanations are to have a legitimate place in contemporary empirical science, especially as regards biological units in general and even nonbiological ones, then their content must avoid appeal to intentional constituents. Efforts aimed atreducing teleological accounts to nonteleological ones (Braithwaite, Nagel, etc.) have proved unsuccessful (Scheffler). Recently, Larry Wright, building on the work of Charles Taylor, has put together a nonreductive analysis which is free from many of the objections often associated with such a program. I maintain that while Wright and Taylor are on the right track, serious problems still remain for their theories. An analysis is suggested which avoids these difficulties.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Braithwaite, R. B.: 1955,Scientific Explanation, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Brandon, Robert: 1981, ‘Biological Teleology: Questions and Explanations’,Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 12, 91–101.
Hausman, D.: 1978, ‘New Thoughts on What is Natural’,Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 21, 441–444.
Hausman, D.: 1976, ‘Another Defense of the Deductive Model’,Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 7, 111–117.
Hull, David: 1974,The Philosophy of Biological Science, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.
Nagel, Ernest: 1971, ‘Teleological Explanation and Teleological Systems’, in R. Munson (ed.),Man and Nature, Dell Publishing, New York.
Noble, D.: 1967, ‘Charles Taylor on Teleological Explanation’,Analysis 27, 96–103.
Rosenblueth, Wiener, and Bigelow: 1968, ‘Behavior, Purpose, and Teleology’,Philosophy of Science 19, 18–24.
Scheffler, I.: 1968, ‘Thoughts on Teleology’,The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 19, 265–284.
Taylor, Charles: 1964,The Explanation of Behavior, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
Wright, Larry: 1976,Teleological Explanations, University of California Press, California.
Wright, Larry: ‘Explanation and Teleology’,Philosophy of Science 39, 204–218.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hausman, D.B. The explanation of goal-directed behavior. Synthese 65, 327–346 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00869274
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00869274