In my most recent post in this series on the science of purpose, I introduced the subject of powers ontology, or dispositionalism. I did so because this recently developed metaphysical framework has the potential to overcome the limitations of the reductionist materialism which has dominated science for three centuries. It is only by replacing naturalism or materialism that we can begin to understand the fundamental role of purpose in nature, bringing us to a deeper appreciation of our own purpose in this life.

Reductionism is a method for understanding something by minimizing it to a very simple level that can be restricted to abstract language. That was the seminal step required in the very early days of science. But it is time to move on. For it is truly hopeless to try to understand the deep richness of our world by shrinking it.

The beauty of powers ontology lies in its ability to expand beyond the abstract derivatives of materialist science, rather than reducing that which we seek to understand. Powers ontology takes us to the very heart of the matter, life itself. This unique method of describing nature consists of the rare combination of both simplicity and breadth. There is nothing in this world that powers cannot elucidate, and you don’t need integrals or differential equations.

The Power of Causality

As previously described, every thing in nature has properties, which confer the power of causality upon that object. The sun, for example, has the property of nuclear fusion, giving it the power to send light and heat into the solar system. Water has the property to absorb UV light, giving it the power to shield Earth’s primordial aquatic life forms from unfiltered solar radiation. Those nascent organisms converted CO₂ into oxygen, which had the property to form ozone (O₃), giving it the power to reflect UV light away from the first organisms that ventured onto land. That is dynamic yet straightforward cause and effect.

Moving on to the complexity of the living, we encounter a more challenging landscape. Hemoglobin has the property of binding oxygen in the lungs and releasing it in hypoxic tissue environments, giving it the power to transport oxygen for respiration. That oxygen molecule, so transported, has the power to aggrandize electrons from elements of lesser atomic number (carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, or CHN). The resulting oxidation of hydrocarbons has the power to release protons up the electron transport chain such that ATP is generated. And ATP has the property of stored chemical energy, giving it the power to distribute energy wherever it is needed in the cell.

A Possible Objection

Some may object by saying that all this is merely descriptive. It brings to mind the old aphorism that opium helps you sleep because it has “a dormitive power.” Well, to be blunt, yes that’s it exactly. Opium does have a sedating property with the power to induce sleep. In my profession, we call that, the “practice of medicine.” We treat patients with high blood sugar (diabetes) with medicine that has the power to lower blood sugar. And we treat high blood pressure with medicine that has the power to lower blood pressure. Yes, it is that simple.

For elusive problems such as the origin of life, or the genesis of specified irreducible complexity, one must be humble enough to start over. To ask new questions. That is really where I’m taking you. These as-yet-unanswerable problems can only be addressed by an entirely new perspective. What is required? We must replace the separation which is reduction with the connection that comes from realism. Powers ontology offers just such an approach. It does so by recognizing that when new properties emerge in matter, they do so with the result that they will be directed to manifest the new powers obtained from those properties. That is, the dynamic combination of matter into new forms to create new properties and powers follows from the undeniable fact that the natural world is embedded with purpose.

Examples of Irreducible Complexity

Michael Behe’s archetype for irreducible complexity is the bacterial flagellum. No one has yet been able to describe how the flagellum evolved, but we do know that bacteria have the power to make flagella. Nor has anyone been able to describe how terrestrial mammals evolved back-of-skull blowholes, echolocation, and hydrodynamically near-perfect flippers and tails, thereby allowing them to leave the land and go on to dominate the oceans. But we do know that cetaceans have the power to generate those forms. 

The fact is, innumerable examples of irreducible complexity permeate the living world. From the spliceosomes that govern alternate genetic transcription, to the chaperone proteins that guide molecular construction and function, to the apoptosomes that rid our bodies of dysfunctional cells one million times every minute, every day of our lives. From the dance language of honey bees to the flawless oceanic navigation of salmonids, and the seasonal prescience of migrating birds and mammals … all the way up to and including to the ten trillion synapses in your brain which originated from that single fertilized egg at your conception, allowing you to read this. All we know is that those properties and powers exist. But we can’t explain how they got there. 

The Most Difficult Question

Of course, answering that question is the most difficult in all of science. Doing so will require several preliminary steps just to arrange the framework for such a complex undertaking. 

The very first step must be to establish purpose in scientific inquiry, not just as an add-on concept, but as the most fundamental guiding principle of all. Of course, that has been the singular goal for which I have been advocating in this series on “the science of purpose.”

The next step to take, in order to embed purpose in science, is through powers ontology. And for this simple yet fundamental reason: powers ontology is based on the premise that the properties of matter are directed toward the manifestation of the powers those properties confer. And if one wishes to construct a picture of evolution including E. coli and H. sapiens, and everything in between, or to explain the transformation of a single fertilized egg to the human brain’s 10 billion perfectly arranged neurons, the first step must be to recognize that matter is, in fact, directed toward some end: a purpose or telos. 

Beyond this point there are countless pathways and dauntingly circuitous territories to explore. But we must start here, knowing we can and will succeed if we faithfully adhere to the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas who taught us, “All things are ordered to their end.”