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8
We must explain then (1) that Nature belongs to the class of causes which
act for the sake of something; (2) about the necessary and its place in physical
problems, for all writers ascribe things to this cause, arguing that since the hot
and the cold, &c., are of such and such a kind, therefore certain things
necessarily are and come to be-and if they mention any other cause (one his
‘friendship and strife’, another his ‘mind’), it is only to touch on it, and then
good-bye to it.
A difficulty presents itself: why should not nature work, not for the sake of
something, nor because it is better so, but just as the sky rains, not in order to
make the corn grow, but of necessity? What is drawn up must cool, and what
has been cooled must become water and descend, the result of this being that
the corn grows. Similarly if a man’s crop is spoiled on the threshing-floor, the
rain did not fall for the sake of this-in order that the crop might be spoiled-but
that result just followed. Why then should it not be the same with the parts in
nature, e.g. that our teeth should come up of necessity-the front teeth sharp,
fitted for tearing, the molars broad and useful for grinding down the food-
since they did not arise for this end, but it was merely a coincident result; and
so with all other parts in which we suppose that there is purpose? Wherever
then all the parts came about just what they would have been if they had come
be for an end, such things survived, being organized spontaneously in a fitting
way; whereas those which grew otherwise perished and continue to perish, as
Empedocles says his ‘man-faced ox-progeny’ did.
Such are the arguments (and others of the kind) which may cause difficulty
on this point. Yet it is impossible that this should be the true view. For teeth
and all other natural things either invariably or normally come about in a
given way; but of not one of the results of chance or spontaneity is this true.
We do not ascribe to chance or mere coincidence the frequency of rain in
winter, but frequent rain in summer we do; nor heat in the dog-days, but only
if we have it in winter. If then, it is agreed that things are either the result of
coincidence or for an end, and these cannot be the result of coincidence or
spontaneity, it follows that they must be for an end; and that such things are
all due to nature even the champions of the theory which is before us would
agree. Therefore action for an end is present in things which come to be and
are by nature.
Further, where a series has a completion, all the preceding steps are for the
428
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Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156