Teleological means describing events as happening for purposes, for example, the sun shines in order to keep the Earth warm; the non-teleological version would be that the sun shines because of the process of nuclear fusion that takes place inside it. Or, a teleological explanation for why the rain falls, is to help the crops to grow. Non-teleologically, the rain falls because changes in air temperature will eventually cause water vapor to condense into droplets which at some point will become too large to remain suspended in the air, and which will fall due to the force of gravity. I could say that chemical reactions are driven by the desire of atoms to have eight electrons in their outer shell, which is teleological, but I could also say non-teleologically that an atom with eight electrons in its outer shell has a stable arragnement of electrons. See how that works?

Teleological refers to the philosophical idea that things are designed with a purpose or end goal in mind. This perspective focuses on the outcome or result that a process or phenomenon is working towards.

Cosmos, in astronomy, the entire physical universe considered as a unified whole (from the Greek kosmos, meaning “order,” “harmony,” and “the world”).

Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that deals with the origin, structure, and space-time relationships of the universe.

Cosmogony is the science that deals with the creation or origin of the universe.

Cosmography is the science that deals with the constitution of the whole order of nature.

Cosmometry is the art of measuring the universe; or perhaps more to the point, is the study and application of the fundamental patterns, structures, processes and principles that are at the foundation of all manifestation in the Universe, physical and metaphysical. In its essence, cosmometry is about synergetics.

Cosmogenesis is the science that deals with the universe as the processesinvolved inthe origin, structure, and space-time relationships.

Cosmism is a practical philosophy focused on exploring, understanding and enjoying the cosmos, in its inner, outer and social aspects; i.e. a 19th-century theory about cosmic evolution, developed from contemporary science, that regards the cosmos as self-existent and self-acting.The conceptfor a 'being' of the universe as an evolving collective self-consciousness.

It was further adopted as a holistic and anthropocentric view of the Universe which presupposes a teleologically determined evolution; i.e. human beings are destined to become a decisive factor in cosmic evolution of a collective cosmic self-consciousness. In other words, a religious ideology that cosmic evolution is thus dependent on human action to reach its goal, which is perfection, or wholeness.

'Artificial Life' refers to man-made entities that display lifelike properties or behaviors. Usually it designates something made "from scratch" as opposed to something that is a mere modification of an existing life form.

Some desired attributes of artificial life would include

* the capacity to self-repair;

* the capacity to self-replicate or reproduce more of its kind;

* the capacity to adapt to its environment;

* the capacity to metabolize (acquire and use energy); * and the capacity to grow and/or behave teleologically (purposefully).

There are three approaches to artificial life:

# Biochemists strive to create artificial 'wetware', i.e. organisms we might recognize as generally like known protozoa, fungi, plants, or animals.

# Robotics labs seek to create robots that can move about autonomously, seek out their own energy sources, monitor and manipulate their environment. # Computer scientists devise individual entities or entire colonies that live out their 'lives' within an artificial software 'virtual' universe. This last is the most novel and controversial approach.

The related term 'Artificial Intelligence' refers to an artificial entity that can reason or work with symbols in a human-like way. It is generally accepted that human beings (and human intelligence) evolved from much simpler (and less intelligent) ancestral species. Thus some artificial life workers believe their simple creatures might, over the course of simulated evolution, give rise to quite intelligent descendants.

A number of international workshops and conferences have been held over the past 20 years bringing together top scientists to share their ideas and demonstrate their attempts at designing artificial life.

Ancient philosophy focused heavily on metaphysical and ethical questions, often seeking universal truths and principles through contemplation and reason. Modern philosophy has a broader scope, encompassing a wider range of disciplines and methodologies, such as empiricism and scientific inquiry. Additionally, modern philosophy is more concerned with epistemological questions and the nature of the mind.