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Single Idea 5866
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / b. Limited purposes
]
Full Idea
Not to have ordered one's life in relation to some end is a mark of extreme folly.
Gist of Idea
It is folly not to order one's life around some end
Source
Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1214b10)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics I,II and VIII', ed/tr. Woods,Michael [OUP 1992], p.2
A Reaction
A most interesting claim, not found in the Nichomachean Ethics. There the teleology is descriptive, but here it is prescriptive. It is tempting to rebel against Aristotle's injuncture. He was a driven workaholic. Why not float through life like gossamer?
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
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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
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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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