When Teleology Fails: Aristotle on Bile as a Useless Residue in Parts of Animals.

Aristotle provides no clear justification for his unique position on the status of bile (χολή). He argues against established tradition and his usual teleological framework that this substance has no function but is a useless residue of the liver. Moreover, the basis for Aristotle's critique of two...

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Publicado en:Scripta Classica Israelica Vol. 42; pp. 111 - 130
Autor principal: Ezrohi, Dmitry
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies 2023
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: When Teleology Fails: Aristotle on Bile as a Useless Residue in Parts of Animals.
      aug:
        au: Ezrohi, Dmitry
        affil: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
      su:
        Comparative anatomy
        Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.
        Anatomy
        Philosophical literature
        Philosophers
        Bile acids
        Teleology
        Life sciences
        Ancient philosophers
      sug:
        subj:
          Comparative anatomy
          Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.
          Anatomy
          Philosophical literature
          Philosophers
          Bile acids
          Teleology
          Life sciences
          Ancient philosophers
      keyword:
        anatomy
        Aristotle
        bile
        explanation
        teleology
      ab: Aristotle provides no clear justification for his unique position on the status of bile (χολή). He argues against established tradition and his usual teleological framework that this substance has no function but is a useless residue of the liver. Moreover, the basis for Aristotle's critique of two competing views about bile, that of Plato's Timaeus and the followers of Anaxagoras, has not been fully elucidated. In this paper, I argue that Aristotle's arguments against his predecessors and his non-teleological account of bile are firmly based on anatomical data, specifically from non-human animals. I show that the structure of the exposition of anatomical details and the role comparative anatomy plays in his argument reveal Aristotle's concerns both with the content of his predecessors' physiological explanations and also with their anthropocentric and noncomparative methodology.
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      src: R
    language: English
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