{"id":1553,"date":"2012-01-23T13:02:21","date_gmt":"2012-01-23T18:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=1553"},"modified":"2012-12-03T10:16:42","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T15:16:42","slug":"futzing-around-with-final-causes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2012\/01\/futzing-around-with-final-causes.html","title":{"rendered":"Futzing Around with Final Causes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Paralympic athlete Aimee Mullins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

This post is part of a series on\u00a0Aquinas, Aristotle, and Edward Feser\u2019s explanation of them both<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Back to Feser and Aristotle for a bit. \u00a0Later on in The Last Superstition<\/a><\/em>, Feser talks about some of the obvious final causes we can observe. \u00a0He\u2019s using this section to defend natural law against the accusation that it\u2019s proponents want us to go back to pre-modern technology and to set up his attack on homosexuality. \u00a0I\u2019m not interested in those points, so you can look them up yourselves. \u00a0I want to discuss what his theory implies about transhumanism and teleology. \u00a0Feser writes:<\/p>\n

When we get to biological organisms, we have things whose natures or essences more obviously involve certain final causes or purposes. \u00a0So, for example, the function or final cause of eyeballs is to enable us to see. \u00a0But suppose someone\u2019s eyeballs are deficient in some way, making his vision blurry. \u00a0In that case, to wear eyeglasses isn\u2019t contrary to the natural function of eyeballs; rather, it quite obviously restores to the eyeballs their ability to carry out their natural function. \u00a0Bicycles don\u2019t do this, of course, but they do extend, rather than conflict with, the ability of the legs to carry our their natural function of allowing us to move about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think of the final causes Feser is describing (seeing, <\/span>moving) as being hugely subordinate to other goals (perceiving, ability to interact with parts of the world non-adjacent to me). \u00a0There\u2019s not automatically a virtue in my current means of achieving those goals. \u00a0Without the ability to hear or vocalize, I can still talk<\/em> if I know ASL. \u00a0Oral and signed languages have strengths and weaknesses, but both will serve. \u00a0A bicycle might get me places faster, and so might swappable bionic legs.<\/p>\n

I assume Feser is only ok with supplementing, not replacing the human body, but (as you might expect) I\u2019m willing to go further. \u00a0There might be final causes that aren\u2019t well served by my current form, so I\u2019d like to adapt it. \u00a0There is one big difficulty with my position though.<\/p>\n

If you believe the human body has an inherent dignity, and that our form directs us to the correct<\/em> final cause, you can bootstrap yourself from observations about your body to hypotheses about your telos<\/em>. \u00a0If, like me, you see the body as optimized and arbitrary<\/a>, I have to find a different foundation for my claims about ought<\/em>; the Aristolelian framework won\u2019t get me all the way there.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my dilemma, and I\u2019m not sure Feser has earned his escape route from it. \u00a0To really honor the human body and not want to tinker with the form, I think you need to oppose evolution, or, at the very least, believe God put a very heavy thumb on the scale when it came to criteria for fitness. \u00a0The worthiness of our physical form has to come from somewhere<\/em>, since I don\u2019t think our experience with our meatsuits and our anthropologic data show it as good in itself.<\/p>\n

This post is part of a series on\u00a0Aquinas, Aristotle, and Edward Feser\u2019s explanation of them both<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is part of a series on\u00a0Aquinas, Aristotle, and Edward Feser\u2019s explanation of them both. Back to Feser and Aristotle for a bit. \u00a0Later on in The Last Superstition, Feser talks about some of the obvious final causes we can observe. \u00a0He\u2019s using this section to defend natural law against the accusation that it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,68],"tags":[69,18],"class_list":["post-1553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apologetics","category-epistemologyphilosophy","tag-fesers-last-superstition","tag-transhumanism"],"yoast_head":"\nFutzing Around with Final Causes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post is part of a series on\u00a0Aquinas, Aristotle, and Edward Feser's explanation of them both. 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