The Effects of Aristotelian Teleological Thought on...

The Effects of Aristotelian Teleological Thought on Darwins Mechanistic Views of Evolution nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The need to understand organisms has been a much sought goal of science since its birth as biology. History shows Aristotle and Charles Darwin as two of the most powerful biologists of all time. Aristotles teleological method was supported widely for over 2,000 years. One scientist remarks that the Aristotelian teleology quot;has been the ghost, the unexplained mystery which has haunted biology through its whole historyquot; (Ayala, 10). If Aristotles approach has frightened biology, then Darwin, who actually nicknamed himself the quot;Devils Chaplain,quot; and his idea of natural selection has†¦show more content†¦Aristotle thought it was both ridiculous and impossible that chance, which is not linked with order, could be used to explain occurrences in biology. In one of his writings, he criticized Empedocles for the use of chance to describe biology. Aristotle believed that Empedocles, then, was in error when he said that many of the characters pre sented by animals were only the results of incidental occurrences during their evolutionary growth. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;As a vitalist, Aristotles philosophy also had a powerful influence on what he wrote. His beliefs are described in On the Soul and On the Generation of Animals. These thoughts can be epitomized into four main areas of Aristotles vitalistic belief: 1. He connects the life of an organism with its psyche. 2. He finds purposefulness and organic unity as the most significant sections of vitalism. 3. He debates that the entire body, rather than the parts, should be taken into account. 4. He emphasizes the soul as the final goal. Looking at these four traditions, it is not shocking that Aristotle thought that single limbs, such as an arm, was a good description of