naturalist agency

30 Oct 2021 02:15 - 17 Jun 2023 08:29
Open in Logseq
    • Naturalist theories of agency deny any overarching purpose to the universe; but acknowledge the obvious and undeniable fact that local purposfulness is everywhere.
    • How does this work? The naturalist is answer is something like:
      • Natural selection; which bootstraps purpose out of a non-purposeful process of random mutation and differential rates of reproduction.
      • Goal-seeking behavior as a particular evolved mechanisms, eg chemotaxis
      • Goal-seeking that involves something like representation of the world or possible world-states (mapping, planning)
      • More complex reasoning abilities, language, reflection.
    • These all seem like plausible evolutionary or computational mechanisms, details TBD.