Telos

Telos (/ˈtɛ.lɒs/; Greek: τέλος, translit. télos, lit. "end, 'purpose', or 'goal")[1] is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the full potential or inherent purpose or objective of a person or thing,[2] similar to the notion of an 'end goal' or 'raison d'être'. Moreover, it can be understood as the "supreme end of man's endeavour."[3]

"Pleasure and pain moreover supply the motives of desire and of avoidance, and the springs of conduct generally. This being so, it clearly follows that actions are right and praiseworthy only as being a means to the attainment of a life of pleasure. But that which is not itself a means to anything else, but to which all else is a means, is what the Greeks term the Telos, the highest, ultimate or final Good. It must therefore be admitted that the Chief Good is to live agreeably." — Cicero, De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, Book I[4]
For other uses, see Telos (disambiguation).

Telos is the root of the modern term 'teleology', the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, purposes, or intentions. Teleology is central in Aristotle's work on biology and in his theory of causes. Aristotle's notion that everything has a telos also gave rise to epistemology.[5] It is also central to some philosophical theories of history, such as those of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx.[2]

In general philosophy

Telos has been consistently used in the writings of Aristotle, in which the term, on several occasions, denote 'goal'.[6] It is considered synonymous to teleute ('end'), particularly in Aristotle's discourse about the plot-structure in Poetics.[6] The philosopher went as far as to say that telos can encompass all forms of human activity.[7] One can say, for instance, that the telos of warfare is victory, or the telos of business is the creation of wealth. Within this conceptualization, there are telos that are subordinate to other telos, as all activities have their own, respective goals.

For Aristotle, these subordinate telos can become the means to achieve more fundamental telos.[7] Through this concept, for instance, the philosopher underscored the importance of politics and that all other fields are subservient to it. He explained that the telos of the blacksmith is the production of a sword, while that of the swordsman's, which uses the weapon as a tool, is to kill or incapacitate an enemy.[8] On the other hand, the telos of these occupations are merely part of the purpose of a ruler, who must oversee the direction and well-being of a state.[8]

Telos vs techne

In contrast, techne is the rational method involved in producing an object or accomplishing a goal or objective; however, the two methods are not mutually exclusive in principle. These are demonstrated in the cases of writing and seeing, as explained by Martin Heidegger: the former is considered a form of techne, as the end product lies beyond (para) the activity of producing; whereas, in seeing, there is no remainder outside of or beyond the activity itself at the moment it is accomplished.[9] Aristotle, for his part, simply designated telos as the consummation or the final cause of techne.[10]

In philosophy of science

One running debate in modern philosophy of biology is to what extent does teleological language (i.e., the 'purposes' of various organs or life-processes) remain unavoidable, and when does it simply become a shorthand for ideas that can ultimately be spelled out non-teleologically.

According to Aristotle, the telos of a plant or animal is also "what it was made for"—which can be observed.[2] Trees, for example, seem to be made to grow, produce fruit/nuts/flowers, provide shade, and reproduce. Thus, these are all elements of trees' telos. Moreover, trees only possess such elements if it is healthy and thriving—"only if it lives long enough and under the right conditions to fulfill its potential."[2]

In social philosophy

Action theory also makes essential use of teleological vocabulary. From Donald Davidson's perspective, an action is just something an agent does with an intention—i.e., looking forward to some end to be achieved by the action.[11] Action is considered just a step that is necessary to fulfill human telos, as it leads to habits.[11]

According to the Marxist perspective, historical change is dictated by socio-economic structures, which means that laws largely determine the realization of the telos of the class struggle.[12] Thus, as per the work of Hegel and Marx, historical trends, too, have telos.[2]

gollark: You CANNOT make a robot which needs NO maintenence.
gollark: > Feeding and maintaining human slaves costs a lot more than running an autonomous robot that only requires electronic energy, which is easily harvested by solar panelsBut it doesn't require electricity only, it requires parts to be replaced.
gollark: I mean, you can't effectively use slaves for anything beyond menial labour, because then they need to do thinking and have some autonomy and actually receive stuff beyond bare necessities.
gollark: Although many tasks don't need generalized robots as much as big motors or something.
gollark: On the other hand, modern robot-y systems need microprocessors, which are stupidly expensive and hard to make, and humans wouldn't.

See also

References
  1. "Teleological ethics." Encyclopædia Britannica 2008 [1998].
  2. "Telos." Philosophy Terms. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. "Introduction to 'de Finabus'." Cicero: de Finibus XVII (2nd ed.). Loeb Classical Library. Harvard University Press (1931), transcribed by B. Thayer.
  4. Rackham, H. Harris, trans. 1931. "Book I." In Cicero: de Finibus XVII (2nd ed.). Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, transcribed by B. Thayer. p. 42.
  5. Eagles, Munroe (2008). Politics: An Introduction to Modern Democratic Government. Ontario: Broadview Press. p. 87. ISBN 9781551118581.
  6. Nyusztay, Ivan (2002). Myth, Telos, Identity: The Tragic Schema in Greek and Shakespearean Drama. New York: Rodopi. p. 84. ISBN 9042015403.
  7. Baggini, Julian (2016). Philosophy: Key Texts. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 14. ISBN 9780333964859.
  8. Grayling, A. C. (2019-06-20). The History of Philosophy. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780241980866.
  9. McNeill, William (2012). Time of Life, The: Heidegger and Ethos. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 6. ISBN 079146783X.
  10. Rojcewicz, Richard (2006). The Gods and Technology: A Reading of Heidegger. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780791466414.
  11. Altshuler, Roman; Sigrist, Michael J. (2016-06-10). Time and the Philosophy of Action. Routledge. ISBN 9781317819479.
  12. Fløistad, Guttorm (2012). Volume 3: Philosophy of Action. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 10. ISBN 9789024732999.


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