On Purpose

by Michael Ruse

Book Overview

A brief, accessible history of the idea of purpose in Western thought, from ancient Greece to the present

Can we live without the idea of purpose? Should we even try to? Kant thought we were stuck with purpose, and even Darwin's theory of natural selection, which profoundly shook the idea, was unable to kill it. Indeed, teleological explanation--what Aristotle called understanding in terms of "final causes"--seems to be making a comeback...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691172463
• ISBN13: 9780691172460
• Release Date: November 2017
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.9" x 8.6"