more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
We say of a sandal which is not worn that it is in vain; God and nature, however, do nothing in vain.
Clarification
'Nature' is the Greek word 'physis'
Gist of Idea
An unworn sandal is in vain, but nothing in nature is in vain
Source
Aristotle (On the Heavens [c.336 BCE], 271a33)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'On the Heavens I and II', ed/tr. Leggatt,Stuart [Aris and Phillips 1995], p.61
| 631 | For Anaxagoras the Good Mind has no opposite, and causes all movement, for a higher reason [Anaxagoras, by Aristotle] |
| 5995 | Diogenes of Apollonia offered the first teleological account of cosmology [Diogenes of Apollonia, by Robinson,TM] |
| 275 | Creation is not for you; you exist for the sake of creation [Plato] |
| 394 | An unworn sandal is in vain, but nothing in nature is in vain [Aristotle] |
| 396 | There has to be some goal, and not just movement to infinity [Aristotle] |
| 626 | Everything is arranged around a single purpose [Aristotle] |
| 5089 | Nature has purpose, and aims at what is better. Is it coincidence that crops grow when it rains? [Aristotle] |
| 2809 | If nature makes everything for a purpose, then plants and animals must have been made for man [Aristotle] |
| 20812 | Covers are for shields, and sheaths for swords; likewise, all in the cosmos is for some other thing [Chrysippus] |
| 23349 | Asses are born to carry human burdens, not as ends in themselves [Epictetus] |
| 2280 | Many causes are quite baffling, so it is absurd to deduce causes from final purposes [Descartes] |
| 23040 | If something develops, its true nature is embodied in its end [Green,TH] |
| 15963 | Science has been partly motivated by the belief that the universe is run by God's laws [Alexander,P] |