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science of purpose

CaptiveRed-tailedHawkatBacara
Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Emergence and Irreducible Complexity: A Unified Theory

We are all familiar with the duality — structure and function — from both technology and biology. Read More ›
2560px-FoxandtwoharesLCCN2009630317
Image: Fox and hares, Japanese fine prints, pre-1915, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

From Materialist Biologists, a Profound Capitulation

I have warned that one of the few remaining avenues that naturalism can take to rescue its paradigm is to appropriate “purpose” within a materialist framework. Read More ›
GrizzlyBearinAlaska
Photo credit: Ashley Lee, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Teleology: Anticipation and Necessity

Imagine a primordial grizzly bear on the northern edge of the forest adjacent to the Arctic. His soma senses the differences of the new environment. Read More ›
Pez_ballesta_picasso_arábigo_(Rhinecanthus_assasi),_mar_Rojo,_Egipto,_2023-04-18,_DD_22
Photo credit: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Life Itself: In Michael Levin’s Platonism, Teleology Advances

This is a huge step by a leading contemporary academic scientist away from pure physicalism. Read More ›
American_mastodon_with_calf
Photo: American mastodons, by Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Metaphysics of Irreducible Complexity

The vastness of life’s complexity is no longer unfathomable when seen through the light of purpose. Read More ›
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Photo: A briar patch, by Phil Gayton from Totnes, UK, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

My Briar Patch: Notes of a Country Doctor 

It took me about twenty years after medical school to break free of the intellectual "comfort" afforded by the mechanistic consensus. Read More ›
The_Doctor
Image: The Doctor, by Luke Fildes, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Theist Doctor, Materialist Doctor

To be a good medical doctor, you have to treat the human body as if its parts have purpose and function. There’s really no way around it. Read More ›
071_Wild_marmot_at_Grand_Muveran_Nature_Reserve_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent
Photo credit: Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Intentionality in Living Systems: What Does It Mean?

One historically dominant position on intentionality has been the Brentano thesis, proffered by 19th-century German philosopher and psychologist Franz Brentano. Read More ›
Trees_in_ICM_on_Myrstigen_hiking_trail,_Brastad_2
Photo credit: W. Carter, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Discerning the Shape of a “New Biology”

Purpose and intentionality permeate and in fact define the living state, in contrast to the inanimate. Read More ›
2560px-Mero_Epinephelus_marginatus_Madeira_Portugal_2019-05-31_DD_24
Photo credit: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.

Illuminating the Power of Life

That which is unique to life alone, which offers the only valid explanation of irreducible complexity, is the manifestation of goal-directed functional logic. Read More ›

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