Teleology

Andrew Woodfield (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

240 Seiten

1976
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-0-521-21102-4 (ISBN)

Infos

The notions of purpose, goal, end and function are used (and abused) in descriptions of a very wide range of human, animal and machine behaviour. Andrew Woodfield provides here a unified account of such teleological descriptions and explanations, their varieties, their logical structure and their proper uses. He concentrates his argument on the concepts of 'goal-directed behaviour' and 'natural function', and combines original philosophical criticism with a meticulous, detailed survey of the main competing theories in this diffuse and difficult field.

Inhalt

Preface; Part I. Introduction: what is teleology?; 2. The method of analysis; Part II. Goal-Directed Behaviour: 3. Braithwaite's plasticity theory; 4. Sommerhoff's theory of directive correlation; 5. Charles Taylor's conception to teleology; 6. General assessment of behaviourist theories; Part III. Functions: 7. Functions and ends; 8. Ends and functional explanations; Part IV. Goals: 9. An externalist theory of goals; 10. Internalist theories; 11. The cybernetical approach; Part V. Conclusion: 12. Unifying theory of teleological description; Select bibliography; Index.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.6.1976
• Zusatzinfo: Worked examples or Exercises
• Verlagsort: Cambridge
• Sprache: englisch
• Gewicht: 410 g
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie
• ISBN-10: 0-521-21102-6 / 0521211026
• ISBN-13: 978-0-521-21102-4 / 9780521211024
• Zustand: Neuware