The Heyday of Teleology and Early Modern Philosophy

This paper argues that the standard reckoning of early modern proponents and opponents of traditional teleology tracks something deep and important in the period’s shifting attitudes towards teleology and teleological explanations. The first main section identifies two central commitments of ancient and medieval views on teleology. The second section argues that mainstream later medieval and early modern philosophers opposed the teleology of their predecessors by denying the explanatory parity of teleological and efficient causal explanations. The third section argues that Spinoza’s rejection of traditional teleology is rooted in his rejection of the ancient and medieval view that objective goodness is explanatory. Finally, the last main section argues that Leibniz’s claim to being a champion of traditional teleology rests securely on his attempt to defend both the traditional theses of explanatory parity and of explanatory goodness.