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26. Natural Theory / A. Speculations on Nature / 2. Natural Purpose / a. Final purpose

[nature is directed by a unified purpse]

13 ideas
For Anaxagoras the Good Mind has no opposite, and causes all movement, for a higher reason [Anaxagoras, by Aristotle]
Diogenes of Apollonia offered the first teleological account of cosmology [Diogenes of Apollonia, by Robinson,TM]
Creation is not for you; you exist for the sake of creation [Plato]
An unworn sandal is in vain, but nothing in nature is in vain [Aristotle]
There has to be some goal, and not just movement to infinity [Aristotle]
Everything is arranged around a single purpose [Aristotle]
Nature has purpose, and aims at what is better. Is it coincidence that crops grow when it rains? [Aristotle]
If nature makes everything for a purpose, then plants and animals must have been made for man [Aristotle]
Covers are for shields, and sheaths for swords; likewise, all in the cosmos is for some other thing [Chrysippus]
Asses are born to carry human burdens, not as ends in themselves [Epictetus]
Many causes are quite baffling, so it is absurd to deduce causes from final purposes [Descartes]
If something develops, its true nature is embodied in its end [Green,TH]
Science has been partly motivated by the belief that the universe is run by God's laws [Alexander,P]