Teleology and Thomas Nagel (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, April 22, 2016, 05:18 (3136 days ago) @ dhw

dhw; If there is no intention, we are left only with function and can forget teleology and forget god and panpsychism. It's therefore all chance until we get to the arrival of awareness (not to be confused with human or divine self-consciousness), after which we can have intentionality and purpose (such as to survive and improve). So it all comes down to when and how awareness first arose. And nobody knows.-There are at least two types of 'awareness' in the simple and complex limits of types of awareness: the simple awareness of a level of chemical presence, which can trigger a chemical response to it; and an awareness that requires a planned response. Bacteria had the first type from the beginning of life. the complex types appeared later reaching its pinnacle in human planning and awareness.