Atheists? What do you say about Aristotle putting God at the top of his "Great Chain of Being"?

Question

Why did Aristotle acknowledge God as part of science and Charles Darwin didn't?

Answer 1

Aristotle was a philosopher who dealt in a little observation but mostly speculation. Darwin was a scientist where everything he wrote was based on meticulous observation and evidence-gathering.

See the difference?

Answer 2

Charles Darwin was Catholic. He thought his evolution theory was helpful in proving there was an intelligent creator. He's buried in St. Paul's Cathedral (?-London)
Aristotle believed that all the deities were in a sort of pyramid scheme with 'God' being at the top. That there was an original creation deity but too far removed from the individual person...which would be why there were others. He definitely did not believe in the Judeo-Christian version.

Answer 3

Aristotle as well as many others scientists an philosophers in history have given mouth service to religion and religious people simply to stay alive...

When the common practice was murder when "the church" cried hierarchy seems to me Aristotle and others had very little choice...

Aren't many of us (I don't say all because there are still people living under religious oppression) very fortunate to live in a time and country where one is not murdered simply for speaking out against religion...

Answer 4

Because Aristotle was a different person with different philosophies and different paradigm of reality than Charles Darwin. Greek science was based on observation, modern science is based on newton's methods and the scientific method of making a hypothesis, recording your data, ect. Hope that helps. Oh and to answer your question, it doesn't bother me one bit that Aristotle did that. He still had much to contribute to his time and as somebody we can look at as a great thinker of their time. I don't take people outside of their time frame.

Answer 5

Just because someone of power believes in something, it doesn't make it true. As smart as Aristotle was, he didn't have proof of the existence of God, either.

Just because someone is considered to be smart a lot of the time, it doesn't mean that you have to believe 100% of the things that they believe. Aristotle is considered to be brilliant because the things that he said seemed brilliant at the time. He was lucky enough to be more educated than 99.9% of the human population who lived during his era. If he lived NOW, he probably wouldn't be considered to be any smarter than any of the other thousands of philosohers that are living and writing.

Answer 6

Because Aristotle believed in God and science...Charles Darwin did not...obviously.
Everyone has their own opinions and their opinions should not matter to you. You believe what you wish and they will believe theirs.
Just let it be.

Answer 7

and your point is??? what?

so what. even if Elvis endorsed god, does that make it any more credible?

no.

listen people, regardless of someones social/historical status, no one can be taken seriously when talking about things that are beyond human understanding.

what does a slug no about internal combustion engines?
same with people. feel free to believe other people, but if you dont know the answer, then why the hell would you believe someone else (is is only reading from a book) anyway?

Answer 8

Aristotle got it wrong. Darwin is more right. The beauty of science is that it can correct itself, unlike faith which rigidly accepts its myth as fact.

Here's some food for thought (if you dare to think, that is): there is no "great chain of being".

Answer 9

For the same reason that Socrates ACKNOWLEDGED that the Gods exist even though many atheists believe that he was actually "guilty as charged" during his trail for atheism in Athens (He demolished that argument in Plato's Apology, BTW..... -- Plato's Apology is the ACCOUNT of the trial)

Answer 10

I thought Aristotle was a philosopher, not a scientist.

Even if he was a scientist, how much scientific knowledge existed then?