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Full Idea
Each thing's function is its end.
Clarification
'Function' is the Greek word 'ergon', and 'end' is the Greek word 'telos'
Gist of Idea
Each thing's function is its end
Source
Aristotle (Eudemian Ethics [c.333 BCE], 1219a08)
Book Ref
Aristotle: 'Eudemian Ethics I,II and VIII', ed/tr. Woods,Michael [OUP 1992], p.12
A Reaction
Function and end are not the same, but this confirms how closely related they are for Aristotle. Can an inanimate object have an end, without having any apparent function? Could I construct a set of cogwheels which each had a function, but no end?
Related Idea
Idea 15772 A thing's active function is its end [Aristotle]
| 5873 | Each thing's function is its end [Aristotle] |
| 5108 | Is ceasing-to-be unnatural if it happens by force, and natural otherwise? [Aristotle] |
| 22380 | Some words, such as 'knife', have a meaning which involves its function [Foot] |
| 10431 | Things are thought to have a function, even when they can't perform them [Sainsbury] |
| 12245 | Essence is the source of a thing's characteristic behaviour [Oderberg] |
| 6379 | A mummified heart has the teleological function of circulating blood [Polger] |
| 6377 | Teleological notions of function say what a thing is supposed to do [Polger] |
| 14387 | Rather than dispositions, functions may be the element that brought a thing into existence [Leuridan] |