PRESENTOR Efficient Causation in Aristotle’s Reproductive Casual Framework Holden Hill, Texas A&M University In our contemporary view of Aristotle’s biology, specifically in his theory of reproduction, the recent literature charges Aristotle’s theory with sexism, arguing that his theory of reproduction is based on underlying gender bias against females. In Aristotle’s Generation of Animals, several contemporary philosophers argue that Aristotle’s theory of reproduction is teleologically ordered towards the production of the male, and that female animals are the result of a failed teleological process, and are therefore deficient in this regard. Therefore, with no bases in which to assert that female animals are the deficient sex, Aristotle’s theory is informed by an underlying sexist slant against females. In this paper, I aim to show that the criticisms of Aristotle’s theory of reproduction are generated from a traditional misinterpretation of Aristotle’s causal framework. Aristotle may have (and probably did) hold sexist attitudes, but the charges against his theory of reproduction that we have seen come out of the recent literature are inaccurate to his actual reproductive framework. Aristotle’s causal framework is made up of his famous four causes: 1) The material cause; the matter a substance is made up of. 2) The formal cause; the characteristics and properties that define a substance. 3) The efficient cause; the antecedent condition which contributed in the generation of the substance. And 4) The final cause; The telos or purpose of the substance. In Generation of Animals, Aristotle draws specific attention to the role of efficient causation through external forces in his theory of reproduction, and this role of efficient causation is left out of the recent literature which advances these sexist criticisms. I will show that the reason this role of efficient causation is excluded from our current understanding of Aristotle’s theory of reproduction is due to this traditional misinterpretation, and the criticisms that we see today are generated out of a fundamental misunderstanding of Aristotle’s causal framework. After recognizing the role of external forces in his theory of reproduction, we will see that there is still much more to be understood about efficient causation in Aristotle’s reproductive theory which exonerates his framework from sexist charges.
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