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True/False: Section Highlights: Aristotle maintained that all things in nature have a goal or purpose for which they strive; he called such a goal or purpose a "final cause" or "telos."

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Final answer:

It is true that Aristotle proposed that everything in nature has a goal, known as the 'final cause' or 'telos.' This concept fits within his teleological view, forming one of the four causes he articulated to explain the nature of all beings.

Step-by-step explanation:

True: Aristotle indeed maintained that all things in nature strive towards a goal or purpose, which he referred to as the "final cause" or "telos". This concept is deeply rooted in Aristotle's philosophical investigations into the causes of being, forming part of his doctrine of the four causes.

In seeking to understand the nature and existence of all things, Aristotle identified the material cause (what a thing is made of), the formal cause (the shape of a thing), the efficient cause (the agent that brings a thing into existence), and the final cause (the end goal or purpose of a thing).

The notion of a final cause is integral to Aristotle's teleological view of the universe, where everything has an inherent purpose. For instance, an acorn's telos is to become an oak tree.

In ethics, he extended this idea to human actions, stating that they aim at some good, with the ultimate goal (eudaimonia or flourishing) being the highest good and the end of all actions.

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