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Second Year Statement Addendum:
In current philosophy of biology, teleology is a title broad enough
to include under it issues of design, function, organization,
complexity, natural
selection, and explanation. These will all be topics discussed in the workshop by
both regular members and guest speakers.
Original Statement: First Year Teleology is a fascinating, heated and 'loaded' philosophical concept. It is at the same time a key to understanding the metaphysics of Aristotle, Kant or Hegel; a position from which to combat reductionism in contemporary philosophy of science, of mind, of biology; or, in naturalized form, an argument for "functional explanations." Debates about intentionality, mechanism, emergence, or about Kant's notion of purposiveness and the Vienna Circle's notion of physicalism, all revolve to some extent around teleology. Is Darwin's theory of natural selection compatible with or opposed to teleology? Do concepts such as "program" or "development" in contemporary biology rehabilitate the notion? In this workshop, faculty and students will present work of different kinds - papers, literature reviews, research in progress in an informal setting aimed at the sharing of resources. Everyone is welcome, and those still interested in presenting should contact the organizers, as some slots are still open. |