The Analogy between Physis and Techne in Aristotle's Natural Teleology

Abstract

In the Physics II 8, Aristotle attempts to explain the teleological character of natural organisms by analogy with production of artefacts. As this attempt is related to human activities, it has been often criticised for erroneous personification of natural things. This paper shows the following through analysing this analogy. First, his thesis, “art imitates nature”, is grounds for the validity of analogical scheme. Second, in this analogy Aristotle stresses that the teleological character of existence and generation of natural organisms, whose end is the acquisition and maintenance of the specific form of each living thing, differs from the teleological character of human intentional action.