Teleology, function, design and the evolution of animal behaviour

Abstract

Concerns about teleological language in evolutionary biology focus on the notions of function, design and adaptation. Accounts that naturalize these ideas are currently popular. In keeping with recent developments in evolutionary theory and philosophy of biology, three naturalistic analyses of function - current utility, historical function, and functions as capacities - should be differentiated. All have roles to play in biology, although the historical conception seems the most central to evolutionary theory. While rarely distinguished from function, design should be regarded as an extension of historical function. We consider the utility of this distinction for the study of behaviour. © 1995.