Thomas Pangle’s Neo-Epicurean Reading of Aristotle’s Biology
##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.sidebar##
Published
Sep 17, 2023
Download
Statistics
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##
Abstract
In his 2020 reading of Aristotle’s biology, “A Synoptic Introduction to the Ontological Background of Aristotle’s Political Theory,” Thomas L. Pangle (2020) speaks de facto on behalf of contemporary Neo-Epicureanism. For Pangle reads Aristotle by way of advancing the cause of an Epicurean use of Plato. Proposing to liberate Aristotle from a 2,400 year-old Platonic tradition having allegedly unduly minimized the importance of biology in understanding both ontology and politics, Pangle argues for fundamental compatibility between the Stagirite and Darwinian evolutionism. The present article offers strong reasons to reject Pangle's central contentions.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61439/DNGA7340
##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
Alberts, B. (1998). The cell as a collection of protein machines: Preparing the next generation of molecular biologists. Cell, 92(3), 291–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80922-8
Andreacchio, M. (2019a). Mastery of Nature: Promises and Prospects. Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, 45(2), 223–247. https://interpretationjournal.com/shop/mastery-of-nature-edited-by-svetozar-y-minkov-and-bernhardt-l-trout-by-marco-andreacchio/
Andreacchio, M. (2019b). Mastery of Nature: Promises and Prospects. Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, 45(3), 427–452. https://interpretationjournal.com/shop/mastery-of-nature-promises-and-prospects-edited-by-svetozar-y-minkov-and-bernhardt-l-trout-by-marco-andreacchio/
Andreacchio, M. (2023, February 20). The scientific reconstruction of Dante. VoegelinView. https://voegelinview.com/the-scientific-reconstruction-of-dante/
Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A Unifying Vision. Cambridge University Press.
Dawkins, R. (2019). Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Random House.
Dennett, D. C. (2017). From bacteria to Bach and back: The Evolution of Minds. W.W. Norton.
Egner, T. (2017). The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control. Wiley-Blackwell.
Frégnac, Y. (2017). Big data and the industrialization of neuroscience: A safe roadmap for understanding the brain? Science, 358(6362), 470–477. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8866
Gerson, L. P. (2006). Aristotle and other platonists. Cornell University Press.
Harold, F. M. (2022). On life: Cells, Genes, and the Evolution of Complexity. Oxford University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1993). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). Blackwell Publishers.
Henrich, J. (2016). The secret of our success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter. Princeton University Press.
Jaffa, H. (1984). The Legacy of Leo Strauss - Claremont Review of Books. Claremont Review of Books. https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-legacy-of-leo-strauss/
Juechems, K., & Summerfield, C. (2019). Where does value come from? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(10), 836–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2019.07.012
Kauffman, S. A. (2019). A world beyond physics: The Emergence and Evolution of Life. Oxford University Press.
Lane, N. (2015). The vital question: Energy, Evolution and the Origin of Complex Life. W.W. Norton.
MacLean, E. L., Hare, B., Nunn, C. L., Addessi, E., Amici, F., Anderson, R. C., Aureli, F., Baker, J. M., Bania, A. E., Barnard, A. M., Boogert, N. J., Brannon, E. M., Bray, E. E., Bray, J., Brent, L. J. N., Burkart, J. M., Call, J., Cantlon, J. F., Cheke, L. G., . . . Zhao, Y. (2014). The evolution of self-control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(20). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323533111
Masters, R. D. (2007). Historical change and evolutionary theory. Politics and the Life Sciences, 26(2), 46–74. https://doi.org/10.2990/26_2_46
Masters, R. D. (2018). Machiavelli, Leonardo, and the science of power. University of Notre Dame Pess.
Monod, J. (1971). Chance and necessity: An Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology. Random House.
Noble, D. (2017). Dance to the tune of life: Biological Relativity. Cambridge University Press.
Pangle, T. L. (2020). A Synoptic Introduction to the Ontological Background of Aristotle’s Political Theory. A Journal of Political Philosophy, 46(2), 261–291.
Pross, A. (2016). What is Life?: How Chemistry Becomes Biology. Oxford University Press.
Rochat, P. (2021). Moral acrobatics: How We Avoid Ethical Ambiguity by Thinking in Black and White. Oxford University Press, USA.
Rosslenbroich, B. (2014). On the Origin of Autonomy: A New Look at the Major Transitions in Evolution. Springer Science & Business Media.
Santos, L. R., & Rosati, A. G. (2015). The evolutionary roots of human decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66(1), 321–347. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015310
Satyricus M. (2023, March 23). Wang Yangming on Good and Evil [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBwL_953Sqk
Scientists create simple synthetic cell that grows and divides normally. (2021, March 29). NIST. https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/03/scientists-create-simple-synthetic-cell-grows-and-divides-normally
Strauss, L. (1953). Natural right and history. University of Chicago Press.
Strauss, L. (1958). Thoughts on Machiavelli. Free Press.
Tomasello, M. (2016). A natural history of human morality. Harvard University Press.
Tomasello, M. (2022). The evolution of agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans. MIT Press.
Trevors, J. T., & Abel, D. (2004). Chance and necessity do not explain the origin of life. Cell Biology International, 28(11), 729–739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellbi.2004.06.006
Turner, J. S. (2017). Purpose & desire: What Makes Something “Alive” and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to Explain It. HarperOne.
Walsh, D. M. (2015). Organisms, agency, and evolution. Cambridge University Press.
Weiskrantz, L., & Davies, M. (2008). Frontiers of consciousness: Chichele Lectures. Oxford University Press.
Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, Reissue of the 1961 second edition. MIT Press.
Zeman, A. (2008). Does consciousness spring from the brain? Dilemmas of awareness in practice and in theory. In Oxford University Press eBooks (pp. 289–322). https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233151.003.0011
Andreacchio, M. (2019a). Mastery of Nature: Promises and Prospects. Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, 45(2), 223–247. https://interpretationjournal.com/shop/mastery-of-nature-edited-by-svetozar-y-minkov-and-bernhardt-l-trout-by-marco-andreacchio/
Andreacchio, M. (2019b). Mastery of Nature: Promises and Prospects. Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, 45(3), 427–452. https://interpretationjournal.com/shop/mastery-of-nature-promises-and-prospects-edited-by-svetozar-y-minkov-and-bernhardt-l-trout-by-marco-andreacchio/
Andreacchio, M. (2023, February 20). The scientific reconstruction of Dante. VoegelinView. https://voegelinview.com/the-scientific-reconstruction-of-dante/
Capra, F., & Luisi, P. L. (2014). The systems view of life: A Unifying Vision. Cambridge University Press.
Dawkins, R. (2019). Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide. Random House.
Dennett, D. C. (2017). From bacteria to Bach and back: The Evolution of Minds. W.W. Norton.
Egner, T. (2017). The Wiley Handbook of Cognitive Control. Wiley-Blackwell.
Frégnac, Y. (2017). Big data and the industrialization of neuroscience: A safe roadmap for understanding the brain? Science, 358(6362), 470–477. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8866
Gerson, L. P. (2006). Aristotle and other platonists. Cornell University Press.
Harold, F. M. (2022). On life: Cells, Genes, and the Evolution of Complexity. Oxford University Press.
Heidegger, M. (1993). Being and time (J. Macquarrie & E. Robinson, Trans.). Blackwell Publishers.
Henrich, J. (2016). The secret of our success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter. Princeton University Press.
Jaffa, H. (1984). The Legacy of Leo Strauss - Claremont Review of Books. Claremont Review of Books. https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-legacy-of-leo-strauss/
Juechems, K., & Summerfield, C. (2019). Where does value come from? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 23(10), 836–850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2019.07.012
Kauffman, S. A. (2019). A world beyond physics: The Emergence and Evolution of Life. Oxford University Press.
Lane, N. (2015). The vital question: Energy, Evolution and the Origin of Complex Life. W.W. Norton.
MacLean, E. L., Hare, B., Nunn, C. L., Addessi, E., Amici, F., Anderson, R. C., Aureli, F., Baker, J. M., Bania, A. E., Barnard, A. M., Boogert, N. J., Brannon, E. M., Bray, E. E., Bray, J., Brent, L. J. N., Burkart, J. M., Call, J., Cantlon, J. F., Cheke, L. G., . . . Zhao, Y. (2014). The evolution of self-control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(20). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1323533111
Masters, R. D. (2007). Historical change and evolutionary theory. Politics and the Life Sciences, 26(2), 46–74. https://doi.org/10.2990/26_2_46
Masters, R. D. (2018). Machiavelli, Leonardo, and the science of power. University of Notre Dame Pess.
Monod, J. (1971). Chance and necessity: An Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology. Random House.
Noble, D. (2017). Dance to the tune of life: Biological Relativity. Cambridge University Press.
Pangle, T. L. (2020). A Synoptic Introduction to the Ontological Background of Aristotle’s Political Theory. A Journal of Political Philosophy, 46(2), 261–291.
Pross, A. (2016). What is Life?: How Chemistry Becomes Biology. Oxford University Press.
Rochat, P. (2021). Moral acrobatics: How We Avoid Ethical Ambiguity by Thinking in Black and White. Oxford University Press, USA.
Rosslenbroich, B. (2014). On the Origin of Autonomy: A New Look at the Major Transitions in Evolution. Springer Science & Business Media.
Santos, L. R., & Rosati, A. G. (2015). The evolutionary roots of human decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66(1), 321–347. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015310
Satyricus M. (2023, March 23). Wang Yangming on Good and Evil [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBwL_953Sqk
Scientists create simple synthetic cell that grows and divides normally. (2021, March 29). NIST. https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/03/scientists-create-simple-synthetic-cell-grows-and-divides-normally
Strauss, L. (1953). Natural right and history. University of Chicago Press.
Strauss, L. (1958). Thoughts on Machiavelli. Free Press.
Tomasello, M. (2016). A natural history of human morality. Harvard University Press.
Tomasello, M. (2022). The evolution of agency: Behavioral Organization from Lizards to Humans. MIT Press.
Trevors, J. T., & Abel, D. (2004). Chance and necessity do not explain the origin of life. Cell Biology International, 28(11), 729–739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cellbi.2004.06.006
Turner, J. S. (2017). Purpose & desire: What Makes Something “Alive” and Why Modern Darwinism Has Failed to Explain It. HarperOne.
Walsh, D. M. (2015). Organisms, agency, and evolution. Cambridge University Press.
Weiskrantz, L., & Davies, M. (2008). Frontiers of consciousness: Chichele Lectures. Oxford University Press.
Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, Reissue of the 1961 second edition. MIT Press.
Zeman, A. (2008). Does consciousness spring from the brain? Dilemmas of awareness in practice and in theory. In Oxford University Press eBooks (pp. 289–322). https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233151.003.0011