It is a widespread assumption that modern science is so successful in making predictions and understanding nature in general because it gets by without teleology. On such a view, no sort of intention lies behind natural processes, and even the laws of nature are normally conceived of not as purposeful frameworks but as brute facts. There is no further reason why certain brute facts are as they are and, hence, no intention can lie behind them. According to this understanding of the sciences, one should not assume that anything happens in nature in order for something else to happen. Rather,
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