Aristotle and Aquinas on the Teleology of Parts and Wholes

Abstract

In the first book of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes two attempts to establish the thesis that being a human being has a purpose (a télos), using two parallel sets of examples. His first step is to claim that whenever anything has a characteristic activity (érgon) that activity is its end (télos), using the example of “the flute-player, the sculptor, and in general any craftsman.” This identification of the characteristic activity of a craftsman with the location of his “good and well” qua craftsman, and thus presumably with the télos of the craftsman may be indeed questioned, but it does not affect the flow of the arguments and the use of the examples I wish to pursue. It is enough that for some given roles there should be a teleological relation with some purpose related to that role.