목적론적 자연관에 대한 재검토

Abstract

It is broadly recognized that the modern technological civilization was made possible on the basis of the modern view of nature which understands the nature as mathematically quantifiable res extensa. Galilei and Descartes, the pioneers of this view of nature, thought that human beings can emancipate themselves from the status of natures slavery by utilizing modern science itself. Well, this view of nature can contribute to the emancipation of human beings only if they are not a part of the nature. Because human beings are born and die in the nature, sciences would end up with eventually objectifying even human beings. While Descartes strictly distinguishes human consciousness from nature, the contemporary science investigates even the human consciousness as physical and chemical energies. The modern view of nature came about as a replacement for the teleological view of nature. The teleological view dominated the ancient and the middle ages. The modern view criticized the teleological view as anthropomorphic. But the modern view denies even the subjectivity of human beings, when it distinguishes the nature from human beings in order to avoid the error of anthropomorphism. The human beings have been degraded to the passive factors that are determined by objective conditions. In this paper, I investigate the justifiability of immanent teleology and its significance for our age. I argue that immanent teleology can provide a philosophical basis for the symbiosis of nature and human beings and for the mutual respect of human beings. This paper is composed of three parts. In the first part, the modern view of the nature and its problematic are investigated. In the second part, the teleological view of the nature, its justifiability and the traditional arguments against it are investigated. In the third part, the significance of the teleological view of nature for our technological age is investigated.