Kategorie przyczynowości i celowości w filozoficznej interpretacji przyrody

Abstract

The growth of modern science resulted from replacing teleological categories of the Aristotelian physics by causal patterns of explanation originated in Galileo- Newton scientific revolution. The success of deterministic explanation does not imply, however, that all teleological interpretations are useless. Many authors recognize the importance of quasi-teleological patterns in explaining natural phenomena. Feynman methods in quantum mechanics provide an example of interpretative procedures in which teleological and causal procedures bring equivalent results. Facing the classical opposition between teleology and causality, I propose an alternative approach in which the structural directioning of natural processes is regarded as a compromise category. This category could explain efficiency of certain research procedures used in modem physics and help to understand the so called teleonomy (resp. quasi-finality) studied in modern biology.