In Praise of Natural Philosophy
In Praise of Natural Philosophy

Author: Nicholas Maxwell

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2017-02-24

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0773549048

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In Praise of Natural Philosophy argues for a transformation of both science and philosophy, so that these two distinct domains of thought become one: natural philosophy. This in turn has far-reaching consequences for the whole academic enterprise. It transpires that universities need to be reorganized so that they become devoted to seeking and promoting wisdom by rational means – as opposed to just acquiring knowledge. Modern science began as natural philosophy. What today we call science and philosophy, in Newton's time formed one integrated enterprise: to improve our knowledge and understanding of the universe. Profound discoveries were made. And then natural philosophy died. It split into science and philosophy. But the two fragments are defective shadows of the glorious unified endeavour of natural philosophy. Rigour, sheer intellectual good sense, and decisive argument demand that we put the two together again, and rediscover the immense merits of the integrated enterprise of natural philosophy. This requires an intellectual revolution, with profound consequences for how we understand the universe, do both science and philosophy, and tackle global problems. A comprehensive addition to discussions about the purposes of academia, In Praise of Natural Philosophy has dramatic implications for the fate of our world.

Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy
Isaac Newton's Natural Philosophy

Author: Jed Z. Buchwald

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780262524254

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Shedding new light on the intellectual context of Newton's scientific thought, this book explores the development of his mathematical philosophy, rational mechanics, and celestial dynamics. An appendix includes the last paper written by Newton biographer Richard S. Westfall.

Camilla Erculiani, Letters on Natural Philosophy
Camilla Erculiani, Letters on Natural Philosophy

Author: Camilla Erculiani

Publisher: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (ACMRS)

Published: 2019-12

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780866987639

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"English translation of letters by a woman pharmacist, a grocer's daughter and pharmacist's wife, active in the scientific milieu of Padua, in which is proposed a materialist explanation of Noah's flood that prompts an accusation of heresy. Accompanying her own letters are letters to her and a legal brief in her defense"--

Chance and Necessity
Chance and Necessity

Author: Jacques Monod

Publisher:

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 198

ISBN-13: 9780140256468

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Change and necessity is a statement of Darwinian natural selection as a process driven by chance necessity, devoid of purpose or intent.

Nature, the Soul, and God, 2nd Edition
Nature, the Soul, and God, 2nd Edition

Author: Jean W. Rioux

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2021-11-08

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 166670248X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The full title of Newton’s Principia is “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.” Sadly, some contemporary philosophers might be hard-pressed to say just what natural philosophy is about—sadly, because it remains foundational to questions arising in other disciplines: metaphysics, ethics, philosophical psychology, and the philosophy of god, to name a few. In Nature, the Soul, and God, Jean Rioux has brought together primary readings in the philosophy of nature, presenting ways in which philosophers conceive of and account for the natural world in a pre-scientific reflection upon the way things are. Its three main sections comprise: a consideration of what the world would look like if natural philosophy were not possible, some representative natural philosophies (materialism, formalism, dualism, and hylomorphism), as well as an investigation into the implications these philosophies of nature have for other important questions, such as human freedom and the immortality of the human soul. Through the medium of philosophers both ancient and modern, Rioux makes the point that one’s philosophical account of the natural world will inevitably have an impact upon how one regards oneself, and even things divine. It all begins with nature.

Out of the Cave
Out of the Cave

Author: Mark L. Johnson

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2021-08-17

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0262046210

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

From a philosopher and a neuropsychologist, a radical rethinking of certain traditional views about human cognition and behavior. Plato's Allegory of the Cave trapped us in the illusion that mind is separate from body and from the natural and physical world. Knowledge had to be eternal and absolute. Recent scientific advances, however, show that our bodies shape mind, thought, and language in a deep and pervasive way. In Out of the Cave, Mark Johnson and Don Tucker--a philosopher and a neuropsychologist--propose a radical rethinking of certain traditional views about human cognition and behavior. They argue for a theory of knowing as embodied, embedded, enactive, and emotionally based. Knowing is an ongoing process--shaped by our deepest biological and cultural values. Johnson and Tucker describe a natural philosophy of mind that is emerging through the convergence of biology, psychology, computer science, and philosophy, and they explain recent research showing that all of our higher-level cognitive activities are rooted in our bodies through processes of perception, motive control of action, and feeling. This developing natural philosophy of mind offers a psychological, philosophical, and neuroscientific account that is at once scientifically valid and subjectively meaningful--allowing us to know both ourselves and the world.

Karl Popper, Science and Enlightenment
Karl Popper, Science and Enlightenment

Author: Nicholas Maxwell

Publisher: UCL Press

Published: 2017-09-26

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13: 178735041X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Here is an idea that just might save the world. It is that science, properly understood, provides us with the methodological key to the salvation of humanity. A version of this idea can be found in the works of Karl Popper. Famously, Popper argued that science cannot verify theories but can only refute them, and this is how science makes progress. Scientists are forced to think up something better, and it is this, according to Popper, that drives science forward.But Nicholas Maxwell finds a flaw in this line of argument. Physicists only ever accept theories that are unified – theories that depict the same laws applying to the range of phenomena to which the theory applies – even though many other empirically more successful disunified theories are always available. This means that science makes a questionable assumption about the universe, namely that all disunified theories are false. Without some such presupposition as this, the whole empirical method of science breaks down.By proposing a new conception of scientific methodology, which can be applied to all worthwhile human endeavours with problematic aims, Maxwell argues for a revolution in academic inquiry to help humanity make progress towards a better, more civilized and enlightened world.

Natural Philosophy
Natural Philosophy

Author: Alister McGrath

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023-02-02

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0192865730

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Recovering the forgotten discipline of Natural Philosophy for the modern world This book argues for the retrieval of 'natural philosophy', a concept that faded into comparative obscurity as individual scientific disciplines became established and institutionalized. Natural philosophy was understood in the early modern period as a way of exploring the human relationship with the natural world, encompassing what would now be seen as the distinct disciplines of the natural sciences, mathematics, music, philosophy, and theology. The first part of the work represents a critical conversation with the tradition, identifying the essential characteristics of natural philosophy, particularly its emphasis on both learning about and learning from nature. After noting the factors which led to the disintegration of natural philosophy during the nineteenth century, the second part of the work sets out the reasons why natural philosophy should be retrieved, and a creative and innovative proposal for how this might be done. This draws on Karl Popper's 'Three Worlds' and Mary Midgley's notion of using multiple maps in bringing together the many aspects of the human encounter with the natural world. Such a retrieved or 're-imagined' natural philosophy is able to encourage both human attentiveness and respectfulness towards Nature, while enfolding both the desire to understand the natural world, and the need to preserve the affective, imaginative, and aesthetic aspects of the human response to nature.