Defining the Science of Purpose – Discovery Institute

Photo: A prairie dog, by skeeze via Pixabay.

Editors note: We are delighted to welcome Dr. Iacobini as a new contributor to Evolution News.

Does the idea of purpose have a place in science? Can there really be a science of purpose? Has anyone previously tried to describe such a concept? And what might that entail?

Since the subject matter itself is at the very leastnovel in the scientific context, questions like these are unavoidable. The science of purpose is new to the analytic framework, and is thus obliged to make the case for its claim to validity.

Lets agree to accept an inarguable definition of science, and see ifpurposecan be accommodated within that framework. Here is a straightforward and broadly accepted definition of science. It is the observation of natural phenomena in order to discern recognizable patterns that canbe described in a cause/effect relationship, so that a modelof that relationship can be developed that provides at the veryleasta qualitative generalization that applies to those observed natural phenomena. At the quantitative level, such a generalization must be tested to makeverifiable predictions regarding the behavior of such phenomena.

I dont thinkthat one can easily find an exception to this definition. Science, especially biology, has historically been a descriptive, qualitative exercise. Almost all of the laws of science, which apply to the quantitative portion of the definition, are limited to the realm of chemistryand physics.

The scienceof purpose can bereadilysubsumed within the qualitative/descriptive definition. But beyond that, a modeling relation allows for quantitative analysis as well.

Lets continue with a further definition. What ispurpose?I define it as: the achievementof a predetermined outcome to fulfill a desired goal. Notice that this definition entails two concepts rarely employed in science:intentionality and the future tense.

Yet, with just a little reflection, one realizes that it is straightforward to compilean endless list of examples in nature that exhibit purpose. Bees gather honey, birdsbuild nests for their young, salmon migrate to feed and mate, snakes lay in ambushfor theirprey, plant stems bend toward the light, gymnosperms spray pollen to reproduce, prairiedogs dig burrows to hide from predators, wolves hunt in packs toimprove their predatorysuccess, ruminants travel in herds to resist predation. That would be thetaxonomyof purpose, understood in much the same way that anatomists began to understand physiology two centuries ago.

It was the discovery of the similarity of the anatomy between different classes and phyla of organisms that allowed for biology as adescriptive and qualitativescience to progress. In much the same way, one quickly realizes the unity of severaldiscrete purposes that govern andunify the biosphere.

Those purposes include procurement of food, shelter, a suitable environment, mating, protection of offspring, and more. These are all readily definable purposes that define almost all of biota. Purpose at these descriptive levels is undeniable, demonstrable, and easily contained within a generalizable model oforganism.Yes, in short, purpose has a place in science.

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Defining the Science of Purpose - Discovery Institute