| 2684 | Aristotle needed to distinguish teleological description from teleological explanation [Irwin on Aristotle] |
| 5227 | The nature of any given thing is determined by its end [Aristotle] |
| 5866 | It is folly not to order one's life around some end [Aristotle] |
| 5086 | The nature of a thing is its end and purpose [Aristotle] |
| 5087 | A thing's purpose is ambiguous, and from one point of view we ourselves are ends [Aristotle] |
| 5091 | Teeth and crops are predictable, so they cannot be mere chance, but must have a purpose [Aristotle] |
| 2800 | The best instruments have one purpose, not many [Aristotle] |
| 4826 | Nature has no particular goal in view, and final causes are mere human figments [Spinoza] |
| 19376 | A machine is best defined by its final cause, which explains the roles of the parts [Leibniz] |
| 2195 | We can discover some laws of nature, but never its ultimate principles and causes [Hume] |
| 18237 | Without men creation would be in vain, and without final purpose [Kant] |
| 5591 | Reason must assume as necessary that everything in a living organism has a proportionate purpose [Kant] |
| 7176 | 'Purpose' is like the sun, where most heat is wasted, and a tiny part has 'purpose' [Nietzsche] |
| 4422 | The end need not be the goal, as in the playing of a melody (and yet it must be completed) [Nietzsche] |
| 7368 | Originally there were no reasons, purposes or functions; since there were no interests, there were only causes [Dennett] |
| 6538 | We need a notion of teleology that comes in degrees [Lycan] |
| 21045 | Teleological thinking is essential for social and political issues [Sandel] |