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Single Idea 4826
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / b. Limited purposes
]
Full Idea
Nature has no particular goal in view, and final causes are mere human figments.
Gist of Idea
Nature has no particular goal in view, and final causes are mere human figments
Source
Baruch de Spinoza (The Ethics [1675], IApp)
Book Ref
Spinoza,Benedict de: 'Ethics, Improvement of Understanding, Letters', ed/tr. Elwes,R [Dover 1955], p.77
A Reaction
This is Spinoza's famous rejection of Aristotelian teleology, which was the last seventeenth century nail in the coffin of the great man. Spinoza substitutes God, but loss of faith in that concept then left us with no purpose at all, as in Hume.
The
17 ideas
with the same theme
[aspects of nature are defined by purpose]:
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2684
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Aristotle needed to distinguish teleological description from teleological explanation
[Irwin on Aristotle]
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5227
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The nature of any given thing is determined by its end
[Aristotle]
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5866
|
It is folly not to order one's life around some end
[Aristotle]
|
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5086
|
The nature of a thing is its end and purpose
[Aristotle]
|
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5087
|
A thing's purpose is ambiguous, and from one point of view we ourselves are ends
[Aristotle]
|
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5091
|
Teeth and crops are predictable, so they cannot be mere chance, but must have a purpose
[Aristotle]
|
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2800
|
The best instruments have one purpose, not many
[Aristotle]
|
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4826
|
Nature has no particular goal in view, and final causes are mere human figments
[Spinoza]
|
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19376
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A machine is best defined by its final cause, which explains the roles of the parts
[Leibniz]
|
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2195
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We can discover some laws of nature, but never its ultimate principles and causes
[Hume]
|
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18237
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Without men creation would be in vain, and without final purpose
[Kant]
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5591
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Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose
[Kant]
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7176
|
'Purpose' is like the sun, where most heat is wasted, and a tiny part has 'purpose'
[Nietzsche]
|
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4422
|
The end need not be the goal, as in the playing of a melody (and yet it must be completed)
[Nietzsche]
|
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7368
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Originally there were no reasons, purposes or functions; since there were no interests, there were only causes
[Dennett]
|
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6538
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We need a notion of teleology that comes in degrees
[Lycan]
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21045
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Teleological thinking is essential for social and political issues
[Sandel]
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