Behavior, Purpose and Teleology === > [!tldr] Tags > #type/journalArticle > [!info] Meta Data >**FirstAuthor**:: [[Rosenblueth, Arturo]] **Author**:: [[Wiener, Norbert]] **Author**:: [[Bigelow, Julian]] > **Title**:: Behavior, Purpose and Teleology > **Year**:: 1943 > **Citekey**:: [[1943_rosenblueth.wiener.ea]] > **itemType**:: journalArticle > **Journal**:: *Philosophy of Science* > **Volume**:: 10 > **Issue**:: 1 > **Pages**:: 18-24 > **DOI**:: 10.1086/286788 > **ISSN**:: 0031-8248, 1539-767X > > [!Cite] > Rosenblueth Arturo, Wiener Norbert et Bigelow Julian, « Behavior, Purpose and Teleology », _Philosophy of Science_, janvier 1943, vol. 10, no 1, p. 18‑24. > > %%[@1943_rosenblueth.wiener.ea]%% > **URL**:: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy-of-science/article/abs/behavior-purpose-and-teleology/73ACBBEC616CE78767088694F357D57B . > > **Related**:: . > > **Attachment**::[PDF](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/RAG5LK8H). --- > [!important] Synthesis > **Contribution**:: > > [!Abstract] > > This essay has two goals. The first is to define the behavioristic study of natural events and to classify behavior. The second is to stress the importance of the concept of purpose.Given any object, relatively abstracted from its surroundings for study, the behavioristic approach consists in the examination of the output of the object and of the relations of this output to the input. By output is meant any change produced in the surroundings by the object. By input, conversely, is meant any event external to the object that modifies this object in any manner. >> --- # Note. --- # Annotations%% begin annotations %% ### Imported: 2026-09-24 12:04 pm <mark style="background-color: #ff6666">Quote</mark> > The first is to define the behavioristic study of natural events and to classify behavior. The second is to stress the importance of the concept of purpose. <mark style="background-color: #ff6666">Quote</mark> > The classification tabulated above was adopted for several reasons. It leads to the singling out of the class of predictive behavior, a class particularly interesting since it suggests the possibility of systematizing increasingly more complex tests of the behavior of organisms. <mark style="background-color: #ffd400">Quote</mark> > It emphasizes the concepts of purpose and of teleology, concepts which, although rather discredited at present, are shown to be important. <mark style="background-color: #ff6666">Quote</mark> > Finally, it reveals that a uniform behavioristic analysis is applicable to both machines and living organisms, regardless of the complexity of the behavior. <mark style="background-color: #ffd400">Quote</mark> > A further comparison of living organisms and machines leads to the following inferences. The methods of study for the two groups are at present similar. <mark style="background-color: #ffd400">Quote</mark> > While the behavioristic analysis of machines and living organisms is largely uniform, their functional study reveals deep differences. %% end annotations %% %% Import Date: 2026-09-24T12:04:48.529+02:00 %%