Abstract

Derived from the Greek word ‘telos’ meaning purpose or goal, ‘teleology’, as it is most often used in the philosophy of mind, is thought of as the study of the purposes, goals or, more broadly, biological functions of various elements of the mental realm. For example, it has been suggested that we can better understand the propositional attitudes when we have discerned their evolutionary function. It has even been suggested that one can begin to understand specific propositional attitude contents in this way. (see content.)