Examples of teleological explanations in scientific discourse
Teleology is the explanation of a phenomenon as occuring for some reason. Teleology is a kind of pseduo-explanation when it offers a sense of explanation, but is invalid (e.g., "the sun shines each day so that plants will grow").
Read about teleology in science
Read about kinds of pseudo-explanations
Examples:
The examples below are mostly edited or paraphrased for brevity, so please use the links to see the full original quotation.
cells
- cells die for a higher good ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
Earth
- internal heat of the Earth is for the purpose of maintaining plants and animals (James Hutton)
- platinum group elements migrated to where the iron was ('Catching Stardust: Comets, asteroids and the birth of the solar system')
- terrestrial system is adapted to a certain end (James Hutton)
- volcanoes are intended to prevent the unnecessary elevation of land and fatal effects of earthquakes (James Hutton)
enzymes
- enzyme has a job copying information ('Almost Like a Whale: The origin of species updated')
ethology
evolution
- species evolve to adapt ('Astrobiology: The Search for Life Elsewhere in the Universe')
genetics
- each atom in a gene has its predetermined place (George Gamow)
- epigenetic inheritance is not supposed to happen (Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, University of Cambridge)
- genes are well-planned structures (George Gamow)
- genes exist to make more copies of themselves ('Some Assembly Required: Decoding four billion years of life, from ancient fossils to DNA')
- virus mutations are to escape antibodies (Prof. Ravindra Gupta, University of Cambridge)
physiology
- eyes are designed for using colour ('Light Years: The extraordinary story of mankind' fascination with light')
reproduction
- Nature planned for seed burs to become attached to passing animals ('Serendipity: Accidental discoveries in science')
