scholarly journals DISJUNCTIONS AND NATURAL PHILOSOPHY IN MARCUS AURELIUS

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 858-879
Author(s):  
Benjamin Harriman
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Marcus Aurelius ◽  
The Universe

In his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius repeatedly presents a disjunction between two conceptions of the natural world. Either the universe is ruled by providence or there are atoms. At 4.3, we find perhaps its most succinct statement: ἀνανεωσάμενος τὸ διεζευγμένον τό⋅ ἤτοι πρόνοια ἢ ἄτομοι (recall the disjunction: either providence or atoms). The formulation of the disjunction differs; at 7.32, being composed of atoms is contrasted with a stronger sort of unity (ἕνωσις) that may survive death. In 10.6 and 11.18 Marcus simply offers φύσις (nature, construed in the Stoic manner as providentialist and causally efficacious) in opposition. On the surface, the contrast between the theory of atomism and the acceptance of providence seems to not warrant the term ‘disjunction’; it seems possible to accept both atomism and a causally determined providential universe. Yet, it is agreed on all sides, in the recent literature, that the relevant contrast for Marcus is not between the atomist and the non-atomist views of the constitution of the natural world as such but between two entailments that follow from the atomist Epicurean and the non-atomist Stoic advocacy of these positions. The contrast is between the providential ordering of the Stoic universe and the chaotic chance-ridden Epicurean model.

scholarly journals Time and Life in the Relational Universe: Prolegomena to an Integral Paradigm of Natural Philosophy

Philosophies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abir Igamberdiev
Keyword(s):  
Probability Function ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Spatiotemporal Structure ◽  
Internal Logic ◽  
Decision Making System ◽  
Relational Domains ◽  
Relational Order ◽  
Infinite Set ◽  
The Universe

Relational ideas for our description of the natural world can be traced to the concept of Anaxagoras on the multiplicity of basic particles, later called “homoiomeroi” by Aristotle, that constitute the Universe and have the same nature as the whole world. Leibniz viewed the Universe as an infinite set of embodied logical essences called monads, which possess inner view, compute their own programs and perform mathematical transformations of their qualities, independently of all other monads. In this paradigm, space appears as a relational order of co-existences and time as a relational order of sequences. The relational paradigm was recognized in physics as a dependence of the spatiotemporal structure and its actualization on the observer. In the foundations of mathematics, the basic logical principles are united with the basic geometrical principles that are generic to the unfolding of internal logic. These principles appear as universal topological structures (“geometric atoms”) shaping the world. The decision-making system performs internal quantum reduction which is described by external observers via the probability function. In biology, individual systems operate as separate relational domains. The wave function superposition is restricted within a single domain and does not expand outside it, which corresponds to the statement of Leibniz that “monads have no windows”.

scholarly journals ROBERT GROSSETESTE: A MEDIEVAL THINKER WITH A LEGACY FOR MODERN SCIENCE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian K. Tanner
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Complex Phenomena ◽  
The Universe

Robert Grosseteste (ca. 1170-1253) was one of the first scholars to embed the newly rediscovered ideas of Aristotle into medieval natural philosophy. In a series of short scientific treatises written between about 1215 and 1230 he focused on explaining why, rather than how, the natural world behaves as it does. He adopted a principle of subalternation in which complex phenomena could be understood in terms of simpler underlying behaviour that could be tested by observation. For example, he explained the features of the rainbow in terms of optics, which in turn could be explained by geometry. Grosseteste’s “Big Bang” theory of the formation of the universe, based on the expansion of light from a point, is founded on the need to explain the stability of solid matter. Although surviving manuscripts do contain almost no diagrams, it is evident that he thought both mathematically and pictorially in developing a unified model of natural phenomena. In a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between historians, philosophers, palaeographers, linguists, artists and scientists (www.ordered-universe.com) we have shown how detailed examination of Grosseteste’s science can stimulate both new contemporary scientific research and artistic creativity.

On the matter of proving Euclidean fifth postulate and the origin of non-Euclidean geometries

2019 ◽  
Vol 950 (8) ◽  
pp. 2-11
Author(s):  
S.A. Tolchelnikova ◽  
K.N. Naumov
Keyword(s):  
Celestial Mechanics ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Relativity Theory ◽  
Theory Of Relativity ◽  
The Third ◽  
Stellar Astronomy ◽  
Spherical Surfaces ◽  
Mathematical System ◽  
Solar System Bodies ◽  
The Universe

The Euclidean geometry was developed as a mathematical system due to generalizing thousands years of measurements on the plane and spherical surfaces. The development of celestial mechanics and stellar astronomy confirmed its validity as mathematical principles of natural philosophy, in particular for studying the Solar System bodies’ and Galaxy stars motions. In the non-Euclidean geometries by Lobachevsky and Riemann, the third axiom of modern geometry manuals is substituted. We show that the third axiom of these manuals is a corollary of the Fifth Euclidean postulate. The idea of spherical, Riemannian space of the Universe and local curvatures of space, depending on body mass, was inculcated into celestial mechanics, astronomy and geodesy along with the theory of relativity. The mathematical apparatus of the relativity theory was created from immeasurable quantities

Twelfth-century Cosmography, theDe secretis philosophie, and Māshā'allāh (Attr. to),Liber de Orbe

Traditio ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 235-276
Author(s):  
Barbara Obrist
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Lunar Eclipse ◽  
Latin Text ◽  
Central Section ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester ◽  
The Universe

TheLiber de orbe, attributed to Māshā'allāh (fl. 762–ca. 815) in the list of Gerard of Cremona's translations, stands out as one of the few identifiable sources for the indirect knowledge of Peripatetic physics and cosmology at the very time Aristotle's works on natural philosophy themselves were translated into Latin, from the 1130s onward. This physics is expounded in an opening series of chapters on the bodily constitution of the universe, while the central section of the treatise covers astronomical subjects, and the remaining parts deal with meteorology and the vegetal realm. Assuming that Gerard of Cremona's translation of theLiber de orbecorresponds to the twenty-seven chapter version that circulated especially during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it was, however, not this version, but a forty-chapter expansion thereof that became influential as early as the 1140s. It may have originated in Spain, as indicated, among others, by a reference to the difference of visibility of a lunar eclipse between Spain and Mecca. Unlike the twenty-seven chapterLiber de orbe, this expanded and also partly modified text remains in manuscript, and none of the three copies known so far gives a title or mentions Māshā'allāh as an author. Instead, the thirteenth-century witness that is now in New York attributes the work to an Alcantarus:Explicit liber Alcantari Caldeorum philosophi. While no Arabic original of the twenty-seven chapterLiber de orbehas come to light yet, Taro Mimura of the University of Manchester recently identified a manuscript that partly corresponds to the forty-chapter Latin text, as well as a shorter version thereof.

The Observer Effect: The Artistic Image as a Metaphor for Scientific Interpretations of the Natural World

Leonardo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-78
Author(s):  
Elena Gubanova
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Scientific Study ◽  
Observer Effect ◽  
Time Space ◽  
Artistic Images ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Artistic Image ◽  
The Universe

In this article, the author presents some of her artworks in which she created artistic images and interpretations of time, space and light that define human life on Earth. In her multimedia installations of the last 10 years, her interest in the scientific study of the universe has been interwoven with her experience as the daughter of an astronomer. The author and her husband collaborate to express their thoughts on science and philosophy through a combination of art and engineering solutions and technologies.

Bacon’s Metaphysical Method

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Daniel Garber ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Method ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
World View ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Scientific Domain ◽  
General Schema

In this paper, I would like to examine the method that Bacon proposes in Novum organum II.1-20 and illustrates with the example of the procedure for discovering the form of heat. One might think of a scientific method as a general schema for research into nature, one that can, in principle, be used independently of the particular conception of the natural world which one adopts, and independently of the particular scientific domain with which one is concerned. Indeed, Bacon himself suggested that as with logic, his method, or as he calls it there his “system of interpreting” is widely applicable to any domain, and not just to natural philosophy. [Novum organum I.127] Now, recent studies of Bacon have emphasized his own natural philosophical commitments, and the underlying conception of nature that runs through his writings. In my essay I argue that the method Bacon illustrates in Novum organum II is deeply connected to this underlying view of nature: far from being a neutral procedure for decoding nature, Bacon’s method is a tool for filling out the details of a natural philosophy built along the broad outlines of the Baconian world view.

Cosmos: The Universe Translated

2018 ◽  
pp. 187-232
Author(s):  
Alison E. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Original Work ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Scientific Thought ◽  
Physical Description ◽  
The World ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Fourth Volume ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Universe

This chapter is devoted to Humboldt’s last, great work Cosmos. This multi-volume ‘Sketch of a Physical Description of the World’ ranged encyclopaedically from the darkest corners of space to the smallest forms of terrestrial life, describing the larger systems at work in the natural world. But, as British reviewers were swift to query, where was God in Humboldt’s mapping of the universe? Appearing on the market in 1846, just a year after Robert Chambers’ controversial Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, Humboldt’s Cosmos unavoidably underwent close scrutiny. Hitherto overlooked correspondence between Humboldt and Edward Sabine shows how the Sabines deliberately reoriented the second volume of the English translation for Longman/Murray explicitly to include references to the ‘Creator’ and thus restore Humboldt’s reputation. The fourth volume of the Longman edition on terrestrial magnetism – Edward Sabine’s specialism – included additions endorsed by Humboldt which made Sabine appear as co-writer alongside the great Prussian scientist, and Cosmos a more obviously ‘English’ product. Otté, who produced the rival translation for Bohn, was initially under pressure herself to generate ‘original’ work that differed from its rival, producing a version of a work that would remain central to scientific thought well up to the end of the nineteenth century.

Ecología y Bioética. La insuficiencia de los límites

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
José Miguel Serrano Ruiz-Calderón
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Current Problem ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Human History ◽  
Humanae Vitae ◽  
Individual Aspect ◽  
Siglo Xx ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Made In

La ecología y la bioética como disciplinas nuevas aparecen durante el siglo XX como consecuencia del horror producido por los abusos técnico-industriales. Tienen pues un origen común y positivo, como está generalmente admitido. Sin embargo, autores críticos han observado que principalmente la bioética ha derivado en una actitud complaciente que, en definitiva, ha servido como coartada moral a buena parte de los abusos realizados en nombre de la Ciencia. Todo lo que es técnicamente posible hacer se acaba haciendo y además encuentra una justificación bioética construida por los expertos de forma analítica. Se puede sospechar que lo mismo sucede con la ecología. Esto constituye en definitiva una traición a las pretensiones de los fundadores de las nuevas ciencias. No se trata de algo nuevo en la Historia humana donde los hallazgos más valiosos o los valores más altos han sido habitualmente manipulados. Parte del problema actual radica en la divinización del hombre, ya sea en su aspecto individual o bajo el concepto de Humanidad. Paradójicamente esta divinización causa la perdida de la noción de dignidad y favorece la conversión del hombre concreto en mero instrumento de la acción técnica. Nuestra época alberga, sin embargo, motivos para el optimismo. La respuesta fundamental se encuentra en la noción de “límite” o si se prefiere de marco que sitúa al hombre en su lugar en el universo, distinto del puro mundo natural y relacionado con la divinidad. La Humanae Vitae es un ejemplo claro de esta concepción globalizadora. ---------- Ecology and bioethics as new disciplines appear during the twentieth century as a result of horror produced by industrial technical abuses. Therefore they have a common and positive origin, as is generally admitted. However, critics mainly authors have observed that bioethics has led to a complacent attitude that ultimately served as a moral alibi for much of the abuses made in the name of science possible. All that is technically possible is just doing and also finds a justification built by bioethics experts analytically. You may suspect that the same is true in the field of ecology. This is definitely a betrayal of the claims of the founders of the new sciences. This is not something new in human history where the most valuable findings or higher values have been routinely manipulated. Part of the current problem is the deification of man, either in its individual aspect or under the concept of humanity. Paradoxically, this deification causes the loss of the notion of dignity and promotes the conversion of concrete man into a mere instrument of technical action. Our era houses, however, grounds for optimism. The fundamental answer lies in the notion of “limit” or “frame” which puts man in his place in the universe, other than pure natural world and related to divinity. Humanae Vitae is a clear example of this globalizing conception.

scholarly journals Evolution of Clustering Quantified by a Stochastic Method—Case Studies on Natural and Human Social Structures

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7972
Author(s):  
G.-Fivos Sargentis ◽  
Theano Iliopoulou ◽  
Stavroula Sigourou ◽  
Panayiotis Dimitriadis ◽  
Demetris Koutsoyiannis
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Organizational Needs ◽  
The Universe

Clustering structures appearing from small to large scales are ubiquitous in the physical world. Interestingly, clustering structures are omnipresent in human history too, ranging from the mere organization of life in societies (e.g., urbanization) to the development of large-scale infrastructure and policies for meeting organizational needs. Indeed, in its struggle for survival and progress, mankind has perpetually sought the benefits of unions. At the same time, it is acknowledged that as the scale of the projects grows, the cost of the delivered products is reduced while their quantities are maximized. Thus, large-scale infrastructures and policies are considered advantageous and are constantly being pursued at even great scales. This work develops a general method to quantify the temporal evolution of clustering, using a stochastic computational tool called 2D-C, which is applicable for the study of both natural and human social spatial structures. As case studies, the evolution of the structure of the universe, of ecosystems and of human clustering structures such as urbanization, are investigated using novel sources of spatial information. Results suggest the clear existence both of periods of clustering and declustering in the natural world and in the human social structures; yet clustering is the general trend. In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, societal challenges arising from large-scale clustering structures are discussed.

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