Search Result for "dysteleology": 

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Dysteleology \Dys*te`le*ol"o*gy\, n. [Pref. dys- + teleology.] (Biol.) The doctrine of purposelessness; a term applied by Haeckel to that branch of physiology which treats of rudimentary organs, in view of their being useless to the life of the organism. [1913 Webster] To the doctrine of dysteleology, or the denial of final causes, a proof of the real existence of such a thing as instinct must necessarily be fatal. --Word (Dynamic Sociology). [1913 Webster]