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  • Chapter 6 - Teleological Perspectives in Aristotle’s Biology

  • Edited by Sophia M. Connell, Birkbeck College, University of London
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle's Biology
    Published online:
    14 May 2021
    Print publication:
    27 May 2021, pp 97-113

  • 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.