Abstract In this article, Fernández examines a remarkable convergence of ideas in Peirce’s mature thought: the Aristotelian notion of causal powers or capacities and its possible combination with some ideas about finality that Kant advanced to make sense of the notion of purpose in the behavior of organisms. He argues that this proposed synthesis deserves to gain relevance in light of new investigations aimed at clarifying issues concerning causality and explanation in science, especially in biology. After reviewing new developments and interpretations concerning the notions of mechanism, teleology, and purpose, especially in regard to their origins in the Kantian tradition, Fernández concludes this trailblazing study by hypothesizing that the characteristic “finality” of biological teleology (manifest in the very idea of purpose) results from the interaction of two basic types of causation: efficient causation and semiotic causation. This a standpoint that incorporates ideas from Peircean semiotics to characterize and justify biological teleology.

中文翻译：

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从趋势到目的

摘要在本文中，费尔南德斯考察了皮尔斯成熟思想中的显着思想融合：因果力或能力的亚里士多德概念，以及可能与康德提出的关于结局的一些概念相结合，以使生物行为的目的概念有意义。他认为，鉴于旨在澄清科学，特别是生物学中因果关系和解释问题的新研究，这种拟议的综合值得得到重视。在回顾了有关机制，目的论和目的概念的新发展和解释之后，特别是关于它们在康德传统中的起源，费尔南德斯通过假设生物目的论的特征性“最终性”（在目的的概念中得到证实），总结了这一开拓性研究，这是由于两种基本因果关系的相互作用：有效因果关系和符号因果关系。这个观点结合了Peircean符号学的思想来表征和证明生物学目的论。