Teleology and Natural Necessity in Aristotle

Abstract

A major problem for contemporary defenders of teleology is to justify -**the inclusion of teleological elements or final causes in ex planations of living systems. This problem arises because explanations from the physical sciences are alleged to rule them out as either unneces sary or impossible. It is interesting that Aristotle himself is concerned about the relationship between his use of final causes and the putative explanations offered by early physical scientists: