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Single Idea 5091
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / b. Limited purposes
]
Full Idea
Things such as teeth and crops turn out as they do either always or usually, whereas no chance or spontaneous event does. ..So, given that these things cannot be accidents or spontaneous events, they must have some purpose.
Gist of Idea
Teeth and crops are predictable, so they cannot be mere chance, but must have a purpose
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 199b33)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Physics', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1996], p.51
A Reaction
This is a good argument, and Darwin's theory does not destroy it. We have no idea why there is order, regularity and pattern in nature. Aristotle does not leap to a divine explanation. The 'purpose' of things might be non-conscious.
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
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It is folly not to order one's life around some end
[Aristotle]
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5086
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The nature of a thing is its end and purpose
[Aristotle]
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5087
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A thing's purpose is ambiguous, and from one point of view we ourselves are ends
[Aristotle]
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5091
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Teeth and crops are predictable, so they cannot be mere chance, but must have a purpose
[Aristotle]
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2800
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The best instruments have one purpose, not many
[Aristotle]
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4826
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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
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'Purpose' is like the sun, where most heat is wasted, and a tiny part has 'purpose'
[Nietzsche]
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4422
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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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