Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Biologists have long excluded the notion of purposefulness from polite scientific discourse, arguing that it is a return to spooky vitalist thinking in biology. Yet, life itself is a phenomenon that is inherently purposeful. How can one study life while excluding the very thing that makes life distinctive? Michael Flannery, Emeritus Professor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, joins us on One Universe Two Books to discuss the knotty problem of teleology.
Michael Flannery is a prolific writer on issues of bioethics and the philosophy of evolutionary thought. His books include:
Nature's Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallace and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology
Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace's World of Life Challenged Darwinism.
Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life.
Biologists have long excluded the notion of purposefulness from polite scientific discourse, arguing that it is a return to spooky vitalist thinking in biology. Yet, life itself is a phenomenon that is inherently purposeful. How can one study life while excluding the very thing that makes life distinctive? Michael Flannery, Emeritus Professor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, joins us on One Universe Two Books to discuss the knotty problem of teleology.
Michael Flannery is a prolific writer on issues of bioethics and the philosophy of evolutionary thought. His books include:
Nature's Prophet: Alfred Russel Wallace and His Evolution from Natural Selection to Natural Theology
Intelligent Evolution: How Alfred Russel Wallace's World of Life Challenged Darwinism.
Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life.
