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Filters: Author is Ariew, Andrew  [Clear All Filters]
Submitted
2007
2002
Ariew A, Cummins R, Perlman M. Functions: New Essays in the Philosophy of Psychology and Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2002.

Aristotle’s central argument for teleology—though not necessarily his conclusion—is repeated in the teleological arguments of Isaac Newton, Immanuel Kant, William Paley, and Charles Darwin. To appreciate Aristotle’s argument and its influence I assert, first, that Aristotle’s naturalistic teleology must be distinguished from Plato’s anthropomorphic one; second, the form of Aristotle’s arguments for teleology should be read as instances of inferences to the best explanation. On my reading, then, both Newton’s and Paley’s teleological arguments are Aristotelian while their conclusions are Platonic. Kant and Darwin’s arguments are likewise Aristotelian while their conclusions are unique.

1998