03.02.08
Clutching at straws: teleology
The Biological Teleology of Ayn Rand’s Ethics.
Arnhart (et al.) want to have their cake and eat it too. But finally the temptation to penny ante up on teleology is succumbed to and we have natural selection (natch!) behind that.
Rubbish.
Teleology can be equally confused with design agendas, but in general the question of teleology requires a completely revamped theory of evolution. You have to leave Darwin behind.
To see the complexity of the teleological issue in terms of history check out the analysis of historical directionality in the eonic effect, and its complex representation as a discrete oscillator.
The Darwinian basis for Rand’s ethics as rooted in biological teleology is elaborated in some of the writings of Harry Binswanger–particularly, his book The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and his article “Life-based Teleology and the Foundation of Ethics” in The Monist (January 1992). Binswanger shows how ethics presupposes the goal-directed action of all living organisms as products of natural selection, and “where there are goals of any sort, life as an ultimate goal is presupposed.” We reach the realm of ethics in the strict sense when we come to human volition. Unlike plants and animals, human beings must deliberately choose to pursue their goals over their entire life-span. And their fundamental choice is between courses of action that are life-denying and those that are life-affirming. The drama of Rand’s fiction turns on this choice.