Dysteleology

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The philosophical position that the natural world and universe operate without any inherent purpose, design, or teleological direction
2. A doctrine asserting that nature lacks purposiveness and that events occur without being directed toward any ultimate goal or end
3. The belief that existence and natural processes are fundamentally devoid of purpose, design, or movement toward any intended outcome

Etymology: Dysteleology is a compound built from "dys-", a Greek prefix meaning "bad" or "ill", "abnormal" or "faulty", attached to "teleology", the study or doctrine of purpose and final causes. Put together, the word names the view that some features of living things are badly designed or serve no good purpose, the reverse of the idea that everything in nature is arranged for a useful end. The term is most often used in biology and philosophy when discussing structures that seem poorly suited to their function, such as the human blind spot or the recurrent laryngeal nerve, which loops down to the chest and back up to the throat in a giraffe. Its strength lies in the clarity of its parts: anyone who knows "teleology" and the prefix "dys-" can work out its meaning at once.