dysteleology

American  

[dis-tel-ee-ol-uh-jee, -tee-lee-] / ˌdɪs tɛl iˈɒl ə dʒi, -ti li- /

noun

1. Philosophy. a doctrine denying the existence of a final cause or purpose.

2. the assumed absence of purpose in life or nature.

3. the evasion or frustration of a natural or normal function or purpose.

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dysteleology British  

/ ˌdɪstɛlɪˈɒlədʒɪ, -tiːlɪ- /

noun

1. philosophy the denial of purpose in life Compare teleology

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Other Word Forms

• dysteleological adjective
• dysteleologist noun

Etymology

Origin of dysteleology

1870–75; < German Dysteleologie; see dys-, teleology

Example Sentences

But is it a teleology, or rather—to use the new-fangled term—a dysteleology?

From Darwiniana; Essays and Reviews Pertaining to Darwinism by Gray, Asa

Haeckel went so far as to propose to describe by the term "dysteleology" that part of the science of Biology which collected the facts that gave direct contradiction to the idea of beneficial "purposive arrangement."

From God and the World A Survey of Thought by Robinson, Arthur William

Of the many and weighty arguments for the truth of this conception of evolution I will for the moment merely point to the invaluable evidence of dysteleology, the science of rudimentary organs.

From The Evolution of Man — Volume 2 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August

In spite of the eight Bridgewater Treatises, and the "Ninth" beside, dysteleology still holds full half the field as against teleology.

From The Unseen World and Other Essays by Fiske, John

This is the science of rudimentary or useless organs; I have given it the name of "dysteleology" in view of its philosophic consequences.

From The Evolution of Man — Volume 1 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August