[Taxacom] teleology example

[John Grehan]

I did not suggest there was any sloppy thinking. I just pointing out what
kind of thinking was explicit in this case. It is possible that in some
cases purposeful statements are made without the author (somehow) realizing
what they write, or in other cases it may accurately reflect their
thinking. In most cases the writing is teleological in style. In this case
it was also explicit by invoking purpose.

John Grehan

On Thu, Mar 7, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Curtis Clark <lists at curtisclark.org> wrote:

> On 2013-03-06 6:12 PM, John Grehan wrote:
> > Here's a nice explicit example: "it’s hard to see how these hair-like
> > processes would evolve if they didn’t serve a purpose."
>
> "Purpose" is often used as an unfortunate substitute for "function" by
> biologists. Sloppy writing doesn't always mean sloppy thinking.
>
> --
> Curtis Clark        http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark
> Biological Sciences                   +1 909 869 4140
> Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona CA 91768
>
>
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