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Aristotle and Epicurus,good cop/bad cop Submitted by michael fasher on Mon, 2007-11-19 08:51.
Christianitys decline since the rediscovery of greek philosophy has no doubt been driven by the reverence Christians from middle ages onwards held for Aristotle,and the emulation by christians from Nicolous Copernicus to Charles Darwin of Aristotles hands on aprouch to epistimology.But I would suggest that in the relationship christianity has had with Aristotle that Aristotle is the good cop in a good cop/bad cop situation and that Epicurus is the "bad cop".Epicurus and the atomists in general have since the very beginning of christianity been a thorn in the side if christian theology.
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Michael
You write: "... but Aristotle thought of the universe and the living organisms in it as having purpose or 'telos.'"
I would urge you to check out Prof. Allan Gotthelf's award-winning essay, "Aristotle's Conception of Final Causality,” Review of Metaphysics 30 (1976-77); reprinted in Philosophical Issues in Aristotle's Biology, ed. A. Gotthelf and J.G. Lennox (1987, Cambridge Univ. Press).
We now know that all an
We now know that all an organism has to be is better than its competitors but Aristotle thought of the universe and the living organisms in it as having purpose or "telos".It may have been apparent to him that some individuals were better at performing tasks than other individuals of the same species/
What on eath is...???
Another thing that should have lead Aristotle to the idea of evolution by natural selection was the idea that an organism must perform its function to the maximum of its potential according to its nature.
Eh? What on earth does this mean? Unless I am missing something an organism only has to be better than its competitors for natural selection to take place.
Fred
Thank you: I should have said, eternal in a way that precludes evolution.
James
You wrote,
"(When will scholars abandon the idea that, for Aristotle, "species" were "eternal"?)"
I was confused by your remark. Do you think Objectivists should hold that "species" are non-eternal? James G. Lennox, an Objectivist, has an article on this very topic entitled "Are Aristotelian Species Eternal?" and can be found in the Gotthelf edited volume ARISTOTLE ON NATURE AND LIVING THINGS. In that article Lennox states, "My thesis is that. . .kinds, including speices, are eternal."
(p. 67) I have no dog in this hunt and am just curious as to what scholars you have in mind and what argument you have for the non-eternality of species, if that is, in fact, your position.
Thanks,
Fred
Empedocles
That's "Empedocles" -- and it is through Aristotle's critique of it that we are aware of his pre-Darwinian theories. Aristotle also held him to be the father of Rhetoric.
I always assumed that
I always assumed that Aristotle simply put the origin of species in the to hard basket which is surprising since he knew that there was a smooth continium from non life all the way up to humans.The earlies evolutionist was I think Empedicles who lived at least two hundred years before Aristotle.
Another thing that should have lead Aristotle to the idea of evolution by natural selection was the idea that an organism must perform its function to the maximum of its potential according to its nature.Its only a small step from these two insights to evolution by natural selection.
Darwin and Aristotle
Darwin's high admiration for Aristotle has been well established and, on this score, the real point-man has been Professor Gotthelf. (When will scholars abandon the idea that, for Aristotle, "species" were "eternal"?)