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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Ancient Western philosophy to c 500
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Aristotle on Teleology (Hardcover)
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Aristotle on Teleology (Hardcover)
Series: Oxford Aristotle Studies Series
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Monte Johnson examines one of the most controversial aspects of
Aristiotle's natural philosophy: his teleology. Is teleology about
causation or explanation? Does it exclude or obviate mechanism,
determinism, or materialism? Is it focused on the good of
individual organisms, or is god or man the ultimate end of all
processes and entities? Is teleology restricted to living things,
or does it apply to the cosmos as a whole? Does it identify
objectively existent causes in the world, or is it merely a
heuristic for our understanding of other causal processes? Johnson
argues that Aristotle's aporetic approach drives a middle course
between these traditional oppositions, and avoids the dilemma,
frequently urged against teleology, between backwards causation and
anthropomorphism. Although these issues have been debated with
extraordinary depth by Aristotle scholars, and touched upon by many
in the wider philosophical and scientific community as well, there
has been no comprehensive historical treatment of the issue.
Aristotle is commonly considered the inventor of teleology,
although the precise term originated in the eighteenth century. But
if teleology means the use of ends and goals in natural science,
then Aristotle was rather a critical innovator of teleological
explanation. Teleological notions were widespread among his
predecessors, but Aristotle rejected their conception of extrinsic
causes such as mind or god as the primary causes for natural
things. Aristotle's radical alternative was to assert nature itself
as an internal principle of change and an end, and his teleological
explanations focus on the intrinsic ends of natural substances -
those ends that benefit the natural thing itself. Aristotle's use
of ends was subsequently conflated with incompatible 'teleological'
notions, including proofs for the existence of a providential or
designer god, vitalism and animism, opposition to mechanism and
non-teleological causation, and anthropocentrism. Johnson addresses
these misconceptions through an elaboration of Aristotle's
methodological statements, as well as an examination of the
explanations actually offered in the scientific works.
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