Teleology in Biology: Bergson and evolutionary theory

12 November 2024

Teleology in Biology: Bergson and evolutionary theory

Tahar, Mathilde (2024). Du finalisme en biologie. Bergson et la théorie de l’évolution. Paris: Presses universitaires de France. As Ernst Mayr wrote, “no other ideology has influenced biology more profoundly than teleological thinking” (Mayr 1992, 117). This approach, which interprets phenomena based on their finality (telos), has permeated the history of biology since Aristotle. It […]

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New paper: E. Di Paolo, E. Thompson, R. Beer (2022), Laying down a forking path: Tensions between enaction and the free energy principle

10 November 2022

New paper: E. Di Paolo, E. Thompson, R. Beer (2022), Laying down a forking path: Tensions between enaction and the free energy principle

Published open-access on Philosophy and the Mind Sciences Abstract: Several authors have made claims about the compatibility between the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and theories of autopoiesis and enaction. Many see these theories as natural partners or as making similar statements about the nature of biological and cognitive systems. We critically examine these claims and […]

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