teleology

Social Construction and Madness

“Today is a great triumph. There is a king of Spain. He has been found at last. That king is me.” ~ Nikolai Gogol What makes a “social object” “really real”? What is a “social object”, and what would it mean for anything to be “really real”, as opposed to just plain real? The common-sense (ala naive) understanding, is to suggest that things like chairs and tennis balls and bullets are “really real”, while things like “money” and “borders” and “kings” are only just “socially” real (if real at all).

Naturalism vs Teleology

Aristotle’s argument in Physics II 8 can be summarized as follows: Dogs typically develop teeth good for biting and chewing. A typical result is not a coincidence. So it’s not a coincidence that dogs develop teeth good for biting and chewing. If the development is not coincidental, it must be “for something”. So the dog’s development is “for something”. (that is, it is goal-directed) The problem with this argument lies in premise 4.