Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

Allan Gotthelf

Oxford Aristotle Studies Series

Illuminates central aspects of Aristotle's philosophy
Detailed and accessible introductions to his main biological treatises
A new, critical perspective on Aristotle as a philosophically-oriented scientist

Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

Allan Gotthelf

Oxford Aristotle Studies Series

Description

This volume presents an interconnected set of sixteen essays, four of which are previously unpublished, by Allan Gotthelf--one of the leading experts in the study of Aristotle's biological writings. Gotthelf addresses three main topics across Aristotle's three main biological treatises. Starting with his own ground-breaking study of Aristotle's natural teleology and its illuminating relationship with the Generation of Animals, Gotthelf proceeds to the axiomatic structure of biological explanation (and the first principles such explanation proceeds from) in the Parts of Animals. After an exploration of the implications of these two treatises for our understanding of Aristotle's metaphysics, Gotthelf examines important aspects of the method by which Aristotle organizes his data in the History of Animals to make possible such a systematic, explanatory study of animals, offering a new view of the place of classification in that enterprise. In a concluding section on 'Aristotle as Theoretical Biologist', Gotthelf explores the basis of Charles Darwin's great praise of Aristotle and, in the first printing of a lecture delivered worldwide, provides an overview of Aristotle as a philosophically-oriented scientist, and 'a proper verdict' on his greatness as scientist.

Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

Allan Gotthelf

Oxford Aristotle Studies Series

Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I: Teleology, Irreducibility, and the Generation of Animals (GA)
1. Aristotle's Conception of Final Causation
2. The Place of the Good in Aristotle's Natural Teleology
3. Understanding Aristotle's Teleology
4. Teleology and Embryogenesis in Aristotle's Generation of Animals II.6
5. 'What's Teleology Got to Do with It?'--A Reinterpretation of Aristotle's Generation of Animals V, co-authored with Mariska Leunissen
6. Teleology and Spontaneous Generation in Aristotle: A Discussion
PART II: First Principles and Explanatory Structure in the Parts of Animals (PA)
7. First Principles in Aristotle's Parts of Animals
8. The Elephant's Nose: Further Reflections on the Axiomatic Status of Biological Explanation in Aristotle
9. Division and Explanation in Aristotle's Parts of Animals
PART III: Metaphysical Themes in PA and GA
10. Notes towards a Study of Substance and Essence in Aristotle's Parts of Animals II-IV
11. A Biological Provenance: Reflections on Montgomery Furth's Substance, Form, and Psyche: An Aristotelean Metaphysics
PART IV: Starting a Science: Theoretical Aims of the History of Aims (HA)
12. Data-Organization, Classification, and Natural Kinds: The Place of the History of Animals in Aristotle's Biological Enterprise
13. HA I.6 490b7-491a6: Aristotle's megista gene
14. Historiae I: Plantarum et Animalium
PART V: Aristotle as Theoretical Biologist
15. Darwin on Aristotle
Coda: Aristotle as Scientist: A Proper Verdict
References
Index Locorum
Index of Names
Index of Subjects

Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

Allan Gotthelf

Oxford Aristotle Studies Series

Author Information

Allan Gotthelf is Anthem Foundation Distinguished Fellow for Research and Teaching in Philosophy at Rutgers University, and Emeritus Professor of philosophy at the College of New Jersey. From 2003 to 2012 he was Visiting Professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh.

Contributors:

Pieter Beullens, Mariska Leunissen

Teleology, First Principles, and Scientific Method in Aristotle's Biology

Allan Gotthelf

Oxford Aristotle Studies Series

Reviews and Awards

"The community of Aristotle scholars owes its gratitude to Gotthelf and looks forward to the paths he has yet to take in the exploration of Aristotle's biological writings." --Reason Papers: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Normative Studies

"Over the past several decades Allan Gotthelf has established himself as one of the leading experts on Aristotle's philosophy of biology. This book is a collection of his most important papers on the subject. Readers already familiar with Gotthelf's work will not find many surprises in it. Gotthelf, however, does an excellent job of revising the papers and identifying connections between them so that they form a more unified body of work. And for those who are new to Aristotle's biology this book is an exceptional resource. It contains a wealth of interesting and provocative ideas on everything from the nature of teleological causation, to the relation between Aristotle's scientific theory and practice, to an analysis of the concepts of form, essence and substance, to a discussion of Darwin's views on Aristotle as a biologist."--Devin Henry, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"For scholars approaching Aristotle's biological treatises for the first time, the value of this book is found in the comprehensive way of understanding Aristotle's work that emerges from the collection of Gotthelf's best contributions. For scholars already familiar with Gotthelf's work, the value comes in the chapters published for the first time and from the fact that this work collects together the various parts of Gotthelf's interpretation in the way Gotthelf himself thinks these parts fit together. That the book includes an impressive list of references and indexes (locorum, names, and subjects) further increases its value as a reference for those engaging with Aristotle's biological treatises." -- Mind