Theophrastus on the Limits of Teleology

Bibliographic Data

ID23146713
AuthorsJames G Lennox (0000-0003-4613-2925, corresponding author)
Year2023
Pages143-163
Publication date2023-07-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueTheophrastus of Eresus (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781003419013-6
OpenAlexW4385069109
ISBN9781003419013
LanguageEN
Citations received25

One of the most distinctive features of Aristotle's philosophy of science is its attempt to defend the use of teleological explanations in accounting for a variety of natural phenomena without assuming some sort of consciousness involved in their causation. Theophrastus questions explanations of the windpipe's position and the location of the blending of the blood by reference to what is honorable. Aristotle's general functional explanation of horns is that they exist for the sake of defense and attack. Aristotle can easily deal with characteristics that are not functional by seeing them as necessary consequences of the possession of functional defining characteristics, or even as species with developmental anomalies relative to some broader class.

Epistemology · Teleology · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy

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