teleology
Teleology would say that a person has eyes because he has the need of eyesight (form following function), while naturalism would say that a person has sight because he has eyes (function following form). [1]
As a very simple example, the significance of a lioness stalking an antelope only becomes apparent when it is seen as directed to some other purpose, that is, of killing the antelope. [2]
Teleology is based on the proposition that the universe has design and purpose. [3]
Teleology is seldom used according to its etymological meaning to denote the branch of philosophy which deals with ends or final causes. [4]
With the rise of modern science in the 16th and 17th centuries, interest was directed to mechanistic explanations of natural phenomena, which appeal only to efficient causes; if teleological explanations were used, they took the form not of saying (as in Aristotelian teleology) that things develop toward the realization of ends internal to their own natures but of viewing even biological organisms as machines ingeniously devised by an intelligent being. [5]
As the term was traditionally used by philosophers, teleology referred to the principle that explained or described the universe by reference to ultimate ends or final causes. [6]
Following Aristotle, many philosophers have conceived of biological processes as involving the operation of a guiding end. [2]
But against mechanism, teleology claims that this determinism, these laws and the mode of activity of efficient causes reveal the existence of a directive principle and of finality in the works of nature. [4]
Human conduct, insofar as it is rational, is generally explained with reference to ends pursued or alleged to be pursued; and human thought tends to explain the behaviour of other things in nature on this analogy, either as of themselves pursuing ends, or as designed to fulfill a purpose devised by a mind transcending nature. [5]
The rationale of Teleology was explored by Immanuel Kant in his “Critique of Judgement” and, again, made central to speculative Philosophy by Hegel and the various neo-Hegelian schools, including that of Marx. [7]
Teleology would say that a person has eyes because he has the need of eyesight (form following function), while naturalism would say that a person has sight simply because he has eyes (function following form). [2]
As a school of thought it can be contrasted with metaphysical naturalism, which views nature as having no design or purpose. [1]
Teleology traditionally is contrasted with Naturalism, which views nature as lacking design or purpose. [...] Teleology (telos: end, purpose) is the philosophical study of design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in nature or human creations. [7]
Since the Modern Synthesis (beginning in the 1940s), in which the advances in genetics were merged with Darwin’s dangerous ideas, the nearly-unassailable success of evolutionary theory has all but purged science of the influence of traditional, religious teleological positions, at least among scientists. [6]
Sources:
[1] Teleology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] teleology: Definition from Answers.com
[3] Teleology
[4] CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Teleology
[5] teleology (philosophy) — Britannica Online Encyclopedia
[6] Being at the Ends of the Universe
[7] GetWiki | Teleology