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I've updated my comment to answer that because I figured not everyone would know. But the TL;DR is that teleology is the assumption that existence has a purpos

by lisper 4y ago

I've updated my comment to answer that because I figured not everyone would know. But the TL;DR is that teleology is the assumption that existence has a purpose.

gjsman-1000 4y ago
Can you scientifically prove existence has no purpose?
- moate 4y ago
  No, but that's not how science works. The general assumption is that the person making a provable conclusion (ie. that there IS a purpose) has the burden of proof. If I claim to have a magical invisible dragon in my garage it's on me to prove otherwise, not for you to prove it doesn't.
- lisper 4y ago
  No, I can't. I can't prove anything scientifically. That's not how science works. Science doesn't prove anything. Science seeks the best explanations to explain observations. I see no evidence that existence has a purpose, and so the best explanation for that lack of evidence is that there is no purpose. But I can't prove it.
  - Mikhail_Edoshin 4y ago
    This is not the best explanation. This is a scientific explanation. Due to the nature of that cultural phenomenon science is only allowed to use statements of a certain kind: suitable to build rather precisely defined logical models and then draw conclusions that stay entirely valid under the same assumptions. This is a very useful abstraction in a way. Yet it is limited. Take good art, for example. Something like "A Christmas Carol". It it markedly unscientific. Yet it also explains certain things about reality. Things that are rather hard to arrive to in a scientific way. And maybe that explanation is actually better?
    - lisper 4y ago
      > This is not the best explanation. It's the best explanation I know of for the fact that there is no evidence that life has a purpose (at least not that I've come across). Can you suggest a better explanation?
hammock 4y ago
Thanks. I find it interesting that you are using root-cause analysis to explain the situation of philosophers who reason in the direction opposite to causality

by lisper 4y ago

I've updated my comment to answer that because I figured not everyone would know. But the TL;DR is that teleology is the assumption that existence has a purpose.

gjsman-1000 4y ago

Can you scientifically prove existence has no purpose?

moate 4y ago
No, but that's not how science works. The general assumption is that the person making a provable conclusion (ie. that there IS a purpose) has the burden of proof. If I claim to have a magical invisible dragon in my garage it's on me to prove otherwise, not for you to prove it doesn't.
lisper 4y ago
No, I can't. I can't prove anything scientifically. That's not how science works. Science doesn't prove anything. Science seeks the best explanations to explain observations. I see no evidence that existence has a purpose, and so the best explanation for that lack of evidence is that there is no purpose. But I can't prove it.
- Mikhail_Edoshin 4y ago
  This is not the best explanation. This is a scientific explanation. Due to the nature of that cultural phenomenon science is only allowed to use statements of a certain kind: suitable to build rather precisely defined logical models and then draw conclusions that stay entirely valid under the same assumptions. This is a very useful abstraction in a way. Yet it is limited. Take good art, for example. Something like "A Christmas Carol". It it markedly unscientific. Yet it also explains certain things about reality. Things that are rather hard to arrive to in a scientific way. And maybe that explanation is actually better?
  - lisper 4y ago
    > This is not the best explanation. It's the best explanation I know of for the fact that there is no evidence that life has a purpose (at least not that I've come across). Can you suggest a better explanation?

hammock 4y ago

Thanks. I find it interesting that you are using root-cause analysis to explain the situation of philosophers who reason in the direction opposite to causality