DANCEST 805 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Uniformitarianism, Gradualism, Ethics
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Example heart beat: efficient cause (mechanistic explanation): flaps, pumps, contractions, final causation (teleological explanation): because the human body relies on blood flow in order to function. * easily, but not necessarily lead to theological explanations (if eyes have wings to fly, then someone most have a foreseeing eye and designed it like that) Aristotelian worldview was already losing ground in physics mechanistic view replaced his ideas. Descartes mechanistic view were an important element of the (19th century) zeitgeist. Key points: animal and human body as machines explained in terms of mechanics. * human mind (not matter) is an exception. Natural theology before darwin: ongoing attacks to aristotelian worldview (copernicus, descartes, newton, if something so complex there has to be a designer (purpose thinking, design indicates intentional causation (e. g. the beagle and the beagle) Charles darwin (1808-1882: british biologist, contributions to biology: Focused on similarities among animals & humans. Developed theory of how life adapts to changing situations: books:
