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\title{Reconceptualizing the metaphysical basis of biology: a new definition
based on deistic teleology and an hierarchy of organizing entities}



\author[1]{Bruce G. Charlton}%
\affil[1]{School of Psychology, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, England}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{May 07, 2026}


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\begin{abstract}
Modern biology was initially established by Darwin's Origin of Species
in 1859 and fully implemented by the Neo-Darwinian synthesis of natural
selection with genetics that solidified in the middle twentieth century.
I will argue that this `paradigm' is based upon fundamental metaphysical
assumptions that render formally-insoluble some of the most important
theoretical problems of biology. These problems include the origin of
life, the major transitions of evolution, the origins of sexual
reproduction and of species, and the basic mechanism behind `group
selection'. The fundamental deficit of the current metaphysics of
biology is that it lacks a unified and coordinated teleology (direction,
purpose, goals). I advocate a new teleological and metaphysical basis
for biology that is minimally based on a `deist' conception of reality:
i.e. that everything is governed by a unified principle of purpose,
order and meaning. Such a teleology suggests a definition of biology
around the concept of development -- that is the growth,
differentiation, coordination and interactions of entities; unfolding
through time through the lifespan and across generations. The local and
specific implementation of teleology is suggested to be accomplished by
a hierarchy of cognitive organizing entities that are located outwith
biological systems. These putative organizing entities work on
biological entities primarily through building-in purposiveness during
development. A deistic system directed by organizing entities is, of
course, not a `biological' theory; but then, neither is natural
selection a biological theory: both are metaphysical frameworks for the
science of biology.%
\end{abstract}%



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