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Full Idea
Credit for the first clear assertion of teleological explanation in cosmology goes to Diogenes of Apollonia, for whom air is the divine and intelligent ground of the real and disposes things in the best possible way.
Clarification
'Teleological' explanations are in terms of purposes
Gist of Idea
Diogenes of Apollonia offered the first teleological account of cosmology
Source
report of Diogenes (Apoll) (fragments/reports [c.440 BCE]) by T.M. Robinson - Classical Cosmology (frags)
Book Ref
'Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy', ed/tr. Zeyl,Donald J. [Fitzroy Dearborn 1997], p.152
A Reaction
The first teleological explanation seems to be based on a conscious mind. There also emerges the possibility of some sort of non-conscious teleology, closer to the laws of physics than to God.
| 5995 | Diogenes of Apollonia offered the first teleological account of cosmology [Diogenes of Apollonia, by Robinson,TM] |
| 1542 | Diogenes of Apollonia was the last natural scientist [Diogenes of Apollonia, by Simplicius] |
| 1544 | Perception must be an internal matter, because we can fail to perceive when we are preoccupied [Diogenes of Apollonia, by Theophrastus] |
| 483 | Start a thesis with something undisputable [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 484 | Everything is ultimately a variation of one underlying thing [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 486 | Plants and animals can only come into existence if something fixes their species [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 485 | Things must retain their essential nature during change, or mixing would be impossible [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 489 | Each thing must be in some way unique [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 488 | Air is divine, because it is in and around everything, and arranges everything [Diogenes of Apollonia] |
| 24042 | The older Diogenes said the soul is air, made of the smallest particles [Diogenes of Apollonia] |