teleology

n. [ Gr. &unr_;, teleos, the end or issue + -logy: cf. F. téléologie. ] The doctrine of the final causes of things; specif. (Biol.), the doctrine of design, which assumes that the phenomena of organic life, particularly those of evolution, are explicable only by purposive causes, and that they in no way admit of a mechanical explanation or one based entirely on biological science; the doctrine of adaptation to purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]