This dissertation explores Aristotle__s use of teleology as a principle of explanation, especially as it is used in the natural treatises. Its main purposes are, first, to determine the function,... Show moreThis dissertation explores Aristotle__s use of teleology as a principle of explanation, especially as it is used in the natural treatises. Its main purposes are, first, to determine the function, structure, and explanatory power of teleological explanations in four of Aristotle__s natural treatises, that is, in Physica (book II), De Anima, De Partibus Animalium (including the practice in books II-IV), and De Caelo (book II). Its second purpose is to confront these findings about Aristotle__s practice in the natural treatises with the theoretical picture of the structure of teleological explanations gained from Aristotle__s theory of scientific demonstration. For this purpose a new interpretation of Analytica Posteriora II.11 is presented. This study thereby contributes to recent scholarship on the relation between Aristotle__s philosophy of science and his philosophy of nature, while at the same time adding to our knowledge of Aristotle__s notion of teleology in terms of its explanatory merits and limits. Show less
