Teleological Perspectives in Aristotle’s Biology

doi:10.1017/9781108181792.007

Chapter 6 - Teleological Perspectives in Aristotle’s Biology

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 May 2021

Jessica Gelber

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Sophia M. Connell

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Sophia M. Connell: Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London

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Summary

The activities undergone by living things are paradigmatically end-directed, and so this chapter examines Aristotle’s invocation of teleological notions (as well as their contrast with non-teleological notions) in his scientific investigation of life. In particular, the chapter looks at how Aristotle explains why various processes occur, why some kinds of organisms have (or lack) certain parts or features, and why those parts or features vary in their sizes and shapes. Aristotle’s biological explanations are complex and rich in detail, thus providing valuable resources for making headway into some of the interpretive challenges facing our understanding of his distinctive form of natural teleology – one that countenances purposes in the absence of intentions and volitions, and one that finds the occurrence of necessity compatible with goal-directedness.

Keywords

teleology purpose function necessity material nature hypothetical necessity

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology , pp. 97 - 113

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108181792.007 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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References

Guide to Further Reading

Gotthelf, A. 1997b. “Understanding Aristotle’s Teleology,” in Hassing, R. (ed.), Final Causality in Nature and Human Affairs (Washington DC: Catholic University Press), 71–82. A revised, updated, and expanded version of this article is reprinted in Gotthelf, A. 2012a. Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle’s Biology (Oxford University Press), 67–89.Google Scholar

Tuozzo, T. 2014. “Aristotle and the Discovery of Efficient Causation,” in Schmaltz, T. (ed.), Efficient Causation: The History of a Concept (Oxford University Press), 23–47.Google Scholar

Gottlieb, P. and Sober, E. 2017. “Aristotle on ‘Nature Does Nothing in Vain’,” in HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 7(2): 246–271, doi.org/10.1086/693422.Google Scholar

Henry, D. 2013. “Optimality Reasoning in Aristotle’s Natural Teleology,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 55: 225–263.Google Scholar

Lennox, J. G. 1997a. “Nature Does Nothing in Vain …, ” in Kullman, W., Günther, H.-C., and Rengakos, A. (eds.), Beiträge zur Antiken Philosophie. Festschrift für Wolfgang Kullmann, herausgegeben von Hans-Christian Günther und Antonios Rengakos (mit einer Einleitung von Ernst Vogt) (Stuttgart: F. Steiner), 199–214. Reprinted in Lennox, J. G. 2001b, Aristotle’s Philosophy of Biology: Studies in the Origins of Life Science (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology) (Cambridge University Press), 205–223.Google Scholar

Leunissen, M. 2010. Explanation and Teleology in Aristotle’s Science of Nature (Cambridge University Press), chapter 4.2. (Chapter 4 of Leunissen’s book also contains a detailed survey of the various patterns of teleological explanation found in Aristotle’s biology.)CrossRef Google Scholar

Charles, D. 1988. “Aristotle on Hypothetical Necessity and Irreducibility,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 69: 1–53. Reprinted in Irwin, T. (ed.) 1995. Classical Philosophy. Collected Papers (Abingdon: Routledge), 27–80.CrossRef Google Scholar

Cooper, J. 1987. “Hypothetical Necessity and Natural Teleology,” in Gotthelf, A. and Lennox, J. G. (eds.), Philosophical Issues in Aristotle’s Biology (Cambridge University Press), 243–274.CrossRef Google Scholar

Sedley, D. 1991. “Is Aristotle’s Teleology Anthropocentric?” Phronesis 36: 179–196.CrossRef Google Scholar

Sedley, D. 2000. “Metaphysics Lambda 10,” in Charles, D. and Frede, M. (eds.), Aristotle’s Metaphysics Lambda: The Proceedings of the Fourteenth Symposium Aristotelicum (Oxford University Press), 326–350.Google Scholar

Sedley, D. 2010. “Teleology, Aristotelian and Platonic,” in Bolton, R. and Lennox, J. G. (eds.), Being, Nature, and Life. Essays in Honor of Allan Gotthelf (Cambridge University Press), 5–29.CrossRef Google Scholar

Bodnár, I. 2005. “Teleology Across Natures,” Rhizai, 2: 9–29.Google Scholar

Charles, D. 2012. “Teleological Causation,” in Shields, C. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Aristotle (Oxford University Press).Google Scholar

Henry, D. 2015. “Aristotle on the Cosmological Significance of Animal Generation,” in Ebrey, D. (ed.), Theory and Practice in Aristotle’s Natural Science (Cambridge University Press), 100–118.CrossRef Google Scholar

Judson, L. 2005. “Aristotelian Teleology,” Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 29: 341–365.Google Scholar

Wardy, R. 1993. “Aristotelian Rainfall or the Lore of Averages,” Phronesis 38: 18–30.CrossRef Google Scholar