Quote:
Originally Posted by TimMason
What does the concept of 'purpose' entail? Imputing it to organisms that are not conscious is a metaphorical usage (for my part I would say the same thing of imputing it to an organism without language). If we employ the term strictly, can it really be applied to anything beyond the higher animals - or aliens?
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One of the things that "purpose" entails I guess is non-arbitrariness. So, when a flower turns to the sun this is not arbitrary but purposive; when an E coli bacterium travels up a sugar gradient this is not arbitrary but purposive. To the best of my knowledge neither daisies nor E coli bacteria are conscious but both seem to exhibit purposiveness - or just purpose - in what they do. And, it's not just a kind of metaphorical purpose. OK it may not be accompanied by the formation of a conscious intention - but then neither does the secretion of insulin by your pancreas - does that not have a purpose?