In this paper, we elaborate on the fundamental characteristics of ecological ontologies, and draw attention to the importance of space and time in the structure of these ontologies. First, we argue that a key to the specification of eco-ontologies is the notion of teleological organization grounded in a notion of recursion. Second, we introduce the notion of roles to characterize the generalize...

Teleology comes from the Greek term telos, in English purpose. According to Aristotle, each object has a final purpose for its being. Human knowledge is also associated with such a purpose. The teleological analysis of knowledge management processes and knowledge types is a new approach to mapping organizational knowledge, especially in academic environment. In this paper, we show advantages of...

We evoke situations where large fluctuations in the entropy are induced, our main example being a spacetime containing a potential black hole whose formation depends on the outcome of a quantum mechanical event. We argue that the teleological character of the event horizon implies that the consequent entropy fluctuations must be taken seriously in any interpretation of the quantal formalism. We...

Humans and other species have biologically endowed abilities for discriminating quantities. A widely accepted view sees such abilities as an evolved capacity specific for number and arithmetic. This view, however, is based on an implicit teleological rationale, builds on inaccurate conceptions of biological evolution, downplays human data from non-industrialized cultures, overinterprets results...

Despite eschewing the utility of ends or purposes in natural philosophy, Descartes frequently engages in functional explanation, which many have assumed is an essentially teleological form of explanation. This article considers the consistency of Descartes’s appeal to natural functions, advancing the idea that he is utilizing a non-normative, non-teleological form of functional explanation. It ...

According to the theory of ‘promiscuous teleology’, we are naturally biased to (mistakenly) construe natural kinds as if they (like artifacts) were intentionally designed ‘for a purpose’. However, this theory introduces two paradoxes. First, if infants readily distinguish natural kinds from artifacts, as evidence suggests, why do school-aged children erroneously conflate this distinction? Secon...

Many female patients present with malignant and non-malignant conditions whose treatment causes infertility. Women who are diagnosed with neoplastic diseases before1 or during2 their reproductive years and undergo ootoxic therapies,3 those who undergo an oophorectomy due to non-malignant disorders,4 those of reproductive age at risk for premature menopause associated with genetic disorders, and...