Nature: A Final Cause in Aristotle's Physics
To understand Aristotle's argument in Physics ii ,8, that "nature [is] among the causes that are for something" (198b10), it is first necessary to understand exactly what Aristotle means when he refers to "nature." When Aristotle uses the word, "nature," it "applies to any and all things that are by nature, without exception" (Lang 40). According to Aristotle, natural things are unique because "each of them has within itself a principle of motion and stability in place, …
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…coincidental processes. Confined to the internal grounds of Aristotle's arguments, works, and era, an assessment of the conclusion that nature is a "final cause" determines that it is impressively successful, as Aristotle masters the formal structure of the argument.
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**Bibliography**
Aristotle. Introductory Readings. Ed. Terence Irwin & Gail Fine. Indianapolis:
Hackett, 1996.
Lang, Helen S. The Order of Nature in Aristotle's Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge
UP, 1998.
Sachs, Joe. Aristotle's Physics: A Guided Study. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP,
1995.
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