He asks the question of what the human purpose is. He never addresses why a given purpose is the chief purpose, only that some intermediate goals are intended to further other goals. Aristotle doesn't ask why heavier objects want to fall faster than lighter objects, he simply observes that they do and makes the claim that they do so because they are supposed to.
To be honest, every time I try to read Aristotle, I end up drawing a triangular diagram and labeling the three points 'agape', 'hatred', and 'apathy', (in response to every time he uses the concept of "contraries"), and the fundamental theorem of calculus, if I'm reading the Physics. In general, though, I tend to underline phrases such as "it is evident that", annotate "nope!" in the margins, and try to provoke a counterargument from the text. So far, my text has not been forthcoming.
I didn't peruse the entire NE to see if he addresses every possible answer, because I know well enough that "it will be evident that" his pet reason will be the One True Answer, and he will not address in enough detail why that is evident.
He never addresses why a given purpose is the chief purpose, only that some intermediate goals are intended to further other goals.
I'm not sure I understand what you think the gap in his argument is (which is not to say it's not gappy). In I.7 he says specifically that human beings have a variety of aims and activities, but that a life in accordance with reason is the chief aim because it's the activity we pick out when we say someone is a good human being (as opposed to a good carpenter). So adresses, if inconclusively, the question 'Why is this our c...
Today's post, Three Fallacies of Teleology was originally published on 25 August 2008. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
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