James Lennox | University of Pittsburgh - Academia.edu

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James Lennox

University of Pittsburgh, History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty Member

University of Pittsburgh, History and Philosophy of Science, Faculty Member |

History of Biology

367 Followers | 87 Following | 1 Co-author | —Total Views

Books

Being, Nature and Life in Aristotle

A festschrift honoring Allan Gotthelf's contributions to the study of Ancient Philosophy, many b... more

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Aristotle's Philosophy of Biology: Studies in the Origins of Life Science

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Aristotle: On the Parts of Animals I-IV

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Papers

Book Review:Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature Larry Arnhart

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1999

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Book Review:Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals. Robert W. Mitchell, Nicholas S. Thompson, H. Lyn Miles

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1998

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Book Review:The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. Michael Bradie; Darwinism Evolving: Systems Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection. David J. Depew, Bruce H. Weber

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1996

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Enc on Harvey and Consequence Etiologies

Philosophy of Science, 1981

In a recent paper (Enq 1979), Berent Enq has argued, on the basis of an historical example, that ... more

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Book Review:Explanatory Structures: A Study of Concepts of Explanation in Early Physics and Philosophy Stephen Gaukroger

Philosophy of Science, 1979

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Aristotle on genera, species, and ?the more and the less?

Journal of the History of Biology, 1980

Aristotle is taken, by many of the most distinguished evolutionary biologists, to be the fountain... more

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Book Review:Aristotle on the Generation of Animals: A Philosophical Study Johannes Morsink

Isis, 1983

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Being, Nature and Life in Aristotle

A festschrift honoring Allan Gotthelf's contributions to the study of Ancient Philosophy, many b... more

Views

Aristotle's Philosophy of Biology: Studies in the Origins of Life Science

Views

Aristotle: On the Parts of Animals I-IV

Views

Book Review:Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature Larry Arnhart

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1999

Views

Book Review:Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals. Robert W. Mitchell, Nicholas S. Thompson, H. Lyn Miles

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1998

Views

Book Review:The Secret Chain: Evolution and Ethics. Michael Bradie; Darwinism Evolving: Systems Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection. David J. Depew, Bruce H. Weber

The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1996

Views

Enc on Harvey and Consequence Etiologies

Philosophy of Science, 1981

In a recent paper (Enq 1979), Berent Enq has argued, on the basis of an historical example, that ... more

Views

Book Review:Explanatory Structures: A Study of Concepts of Explanation in Early Physics and Philosophy Stephen Gaukroger

Philosophy of Science, 1979

Views

Aristotle on genera, species, and ?the more and the less?

Journal of the History of Biology, 1980

Aristotle is taken, by many of the most distinguished evolutionary biologists, to be the fountain... more

Views

Book Review:Aristotle on the Generation of Animals: A Philosophical Study Johannes Morsink

Isis, 1983

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Robert Boyle's Defense of Teleological Inference in Experimental Science

Isis, 1983

CAMUEL JOHNSON REMARKS of Robert Boyle that "his name is indeed 0 reverenced, but his works ... more

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In Memoriam: Carl G.(Peter) Hempel 1905--1997

Biology and Philosophy, 1999

... in Nicholas Rescher, ed., Essays in Honor of Carl G. Hempel: A Tribute on the Occasion of his... more

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Commentary on Byerly and Michod

Biology & Philosophy, 1991

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Biological teleology: the need for history.

by Kostas Kampourakis and James Lennox

K. Kampourakis (Ed.) The Philosophy of Biology: a Companion for Educators, Springer Dordrecht., 2013

Teleology is a mode of explanation in which something is explained by appealing to a particular r... more Teleology is a mode of explanation in which something is explained by appealing to a particular result or consequence that it brings about, and it has its roots in the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. Aristotle defended a natural teleology, free of the Platonic idea that the natural world is the creation of a divine, rational being of some sort, with a plan for his creation. The philosophical debate over teleological explanation in natural science during the Scientific Revolution was primarily between those who, under Platonic influence, defended theistic, creationist teleology and those who, for a wide variety of reasons, opposed the use of any sort of teleology in natural science, while the effective scientific use of Aristotelian teleological explanation was bearing fruit in the disciplines of anatomy, physiology and medicine. This analysis leads to a crucial distinction between two types of teleological explanations: (a) teleological explanations based on design, which suggest that a feature exists for some purpose because it was intentionally designed to fulfill it, and (b) teleological explanations based on a natural process which explains a feature’s presence in a population by appealing to that feature’s beneficial consequences for an organism. In this chapter, we describe a framework that can be implemented in order to help students be able to distinguish between design-teleology and selection-teleology. In doing this, an interesting connection is revealed: two major types of explanations found in conceptual development literature, animism and creationism, are identified as different types of teleology. Implications for science education research are discussed.

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