'Teleology' definitions:
Definition of 'teleology'
(from WordNet)
noun
(philosophy) a doctrine explaining phenomena by their ends or purposes
Definition of 'Teleology'
From: GCIDE
- Teleology \Te`le*ol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. ?, teleos, the end or issue + -logy: cf. F. t['e]l['e]ologie.] The doctrine of the final causes of things; specif. (Biol.), the doctrine of design, which assumes that the phenomena of organic life, particularly those of evolution, are explicable only by purposive causes, and that they in no way admit of a mechanical explanation or one based entirely on biological science; the doctrine of adaptation to purpose. [1913 Webster]