Abstract
At the intersection of biology, philosophy, and theology stands the question of whether natural things apart from human intervention are purposeful. The author traces the dismissal of purpose from the biological sciences to Darwin. It is then argued that since neo-Darwinism itself is currently criticized from within biology that it is reasonable to reconsider the question of purpose on its own merits. Some evidence for purposefulness in nonliving things is briefly indicated from astronomy and astrophysics. The article concludes with a detailed discussion of the various ways purpose is used in the work of biologists when they account for living things.