teleological

American  

[tel-ee-uh-loj-i-kuhl, tee-lee-] / ˌtɛl i əˈlɒdʒ ɪ kəl, ˌti li- /

Sometimes teleologic

adjective

Philosophy.

1. of or relating to teleology, the philosophical doctrine that final causes, design, and purpose exist in nature.

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Other Word Forms

• nonteleological adjective
• nonteleologically adverb
• teleologically adverb

Etymology

Origin of teleological

teleolog(y) + -ical

Explanation

Teleological means starting from the end and reasoning back, explaining things based on their end purpose. A teleological statement you've probably heard before is "everything happens for a reason." Teleological comes from the Greek roots telos "end" or "purpose" and -ology "study of." So teleology and teleological arguments try to explain the result (for example, the complexity and seeming order of the universe) by postulating a purpose. If you take a teleological view of humanity, you think human life has purpose and is moving toward some goal.

Example Sentences

It changes continually and develops through time toward an endpoint or goal, a view that philosophers call teleological.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

Ross seems to acknowledge that, but he also protests that the “Wagner-to-Hitler” meme suggests a teleological progression that, while perhaps convenient, is dangerously simplistic.

From New York Times • Sep. 16, 2020

We can't have a teleological view of the future.

From Salon • Oct. 8, 2019

The standard story about mass printing is a story of linear, teleological progress.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 23, 2019

Aristotle thus does not think of the natural movement of the elements as movement through space; he sees it in teleological terms as the realization of potential.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton