scholarly journals A Note on Cleanthes and Early Stoic Cosmogony

Mnemosyne ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Benjamin Harriman
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Controversial Area

Abstract Our primary evidence for the contribution of Cleanthes, the second Stoic scholarch, to the school’s distinctive theory of cyclical ekpyrosis (conflagration) is limited to a single difficult passage found in Stobaeus attributed to Arius Didymus. Interpretations of this text have largely proceeded by emendation (von Arnim, Meerwaldt) or claims of misconstrual or misunderstanding (Hahm). In recent studies, Salles and Hensley have taken the passage at face value and reconstructed opposed interpretations of Cleanthes’ position. The former suggests that it differs significantly from that of Zeno and Chrysippus. Both the sequence of elemental transformation and its scope are said to be challenged by Cleanthes, suggesting cosmogony was a deeply controversial area in the early Stoa. I resist this interpretation of the evidence while also attempting to read the text without textual correction. Hensley, on the other hand, finds all three to be in strict harmony. Here I advocate for a middle ground where Cleanthes is closer to the positions of both Zeno and Chrysippus, but I also find room for his development of Stoic cosmogony as composed of a series of discrete stages radiating outwards from the middle. We are left with a clearer, more nuanced picture of how Stoic natural philosophy develops in its early period.

The Epistemological Foundations of Natural Philosophy

Philosophy ◽  
1946 ◽  
Vol 21 (78) ◽  
pp. 5-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Whitrow
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
External World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Philosophical Discussion ◽  
Metaphysical Necessity ◽  
Basic Assumptions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of

The history of Natural Philosophy is dominated by a paradox; broadly speaking, a vast increase in its range of application to the external world has been accompanied by a sweeping simplification in its basic assumptions. From the standpoint of Empiricism this dual development appears utterly mysterious. On the other hand, Rationalism, which seeks to demonstrate the metaphysical necessity of natural law, and hence might throw light on this development, has been generally discredited, particularly by men of science. It is not surprising, therefore, that philosophical discussion of scientific method has become a Babel of confusing tongues.

scholarly journals The Metrological Relief at Oxford

1883 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ad. Michaelis
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Very Old ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Greek Art ◽  
Artistic Interest ◽  
As If

Of peculiar interest among the Arundel marbles of the Pomfret donation at Oxford, is a slab in the shape of a pediment, ‘in which there is in basso relievo the figure of a man as big as the life with his arms extended as if he was crucified, but no lower than about his paps is seen, the cornice cutting him off as it were; and this extension of his arms is called a grecian measure, and over his arm is a grecian foot.’ The marble thus described by George Vertue, the engraver, was first published in Chandler's Marmora Oxoniensia, Pt. I., Pl. lix., No. 166, but its importance was completely overlooked until the late Prof. Matz, in one of his last papers, published a better drawing and pointed out the artistic interest of the relief as a sculpture belonging to a rather early period of Greek art. On the other hand, the merit of the monument as an authentic document of Greek metrology was set forth, at my request, by my friend Dr. Fr. Hultsch, the author of Griechische Metrologie, whose views are repeated in my Ancient Marbles in Great Britain. The chief result of his exposition was that our relief unites in a most interesting way the indication of the length of a fathom (ὀρλυιά) of 2·06 or 20·07 m. with that of a foot of 0·295 m., which is not, as one might expect, the sixth, but exactly the seventh part of the fathom. As such a division of the fathom does not agree with the well-known facts of Greek metrology, Hultsch imagined that the foot on our marble might rather be a modulus used by sculptors and architects, and he observed that the recent excavations of Olympia seem to show the dimensions of some of the temples, particularly of the very old temple of Heré, to be based on a double measure, on a foot but little longer (of 0·298 m.), as well as on a fathom of 2·084 m. which, again, corresponds to seven of those feet.

scholarly journals Varian Islam Nusantara: Jawa, Minangkabau dan Gorontalo

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 273
Author(s):  
Donald Qomaidiansyah Tungkagi
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Local Culture ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Reconciliation Process

This article discusses how the encounter of Islam and culture in Indonesia, and how Islam on one hand  affects culture and on the other hand it is influenced by culture. The encounter between Islam and local culture has formed a new habitat that is later called the Islamic Nusantara tradition. The findings in this article prove that the interaction of Islam with local culture occurs in a socio-historical context influenced by the pattern of the spread of Islam in the archipelago. By using the theory of Taufik Abdullah in this article the author compares the three variants of Islamic Nusantara with the pattern and uniqueness of each form: a) Javanese variant, there is a process of acculturation between Islam and culture which are equally strong. The Javanese Islamic variant describes the result of a reconciliation process between identity, belief and the style of Javanese and Islam as "Mystic Synthesis". B) Minangkabau variant, born from "Negotiation of Islam and Adat" as a very thick area of Islamic and customary nuances make the dimensions in Islamic variants in Minangkabau cannot be separated from the conflict between the two parties who gave the role. C) Gorontalo variant, with different Islamiza­tion process with other kingdoms in the Nusantara in general. Since the early period of Islamic encounter with Gorontalo culture, there has been more tangible "Integration between Islam and Adat". Keywords: Java, Minangkabau, Gorontalo, Islam NusantaraArtikel ini mendiskusikan bagaimana perjumpaan Islam dan budaya di Indonesia, dan bagaimana Islam pada satu sisi berpengaruh terhadap budaya dan di sisi lain dipengaruhi oleh budaya. Perjumpaan antara Islam dan budaya lokal telah membentuk habitat baru yang belakangan disebut tradisi Islam Nusantara. Temuan dalam artikel ini membuktikan bahwa interaksi Islam dengan budaya lokal terjadi dalam konteks sosio-historis yang dipengaruhi pola penyebaran Islam di kawasan Nusantara. Dengan menggunakan teori Taufik Abdullah dalam artikel ini penulis memban­ding­kan tiga varian Islam Nusantara dengan corak dan keunikannya masing-masing diantaranya: a) Varian Jawa, terjadi proses akulturasi an­tara Islam dan budaya yang sama-sama kuat. Varian Islam Jawa meng­gambarkan hasil proses rekonsiliasi antara identitas, keyakinan serta gaya Jawa dan Islam ini dengan sebutan “Sintesis Mistik”. b) Varian Minang­kabau, lahir dari “Negosiasi Islam dan Adat” sebagai wilayah yang sangat kental nuansa Islam dan adat membuat warna dalam varian Islam di Minangkabau tidak lepas dari dari konflik antara dua pihak yang memberi peranan tersebut. c) Pola Gorontalo, dengan proses Islamisasi yang ber­beda dengan kerajaan-kerajaan di Nusantara pada umumnya. Sejak periode awal perjumpaan Islam dengan budaya Gorontalo lebih berwujud “Integ­rasi antara Islam dan Adat”.Kata kunci: Jawa, Minangkabau, Gorontalo, , Islam Nusantara 

Encountering the Present II

2018 ◽  
pp. 85-102
Author(s):  
Andy Kesson
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Period ◽  
English Word ◽  
The Other ◽  
Classical Concept ◽  
Active Intervention ◽  
Vernacular English ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
The One

This chapter rereads the generic boundaries of Shakespeare’s writing by exploring two different, and potentially opposed, meanings of the word ‘comedy’ in the sixteenth century. On the one hand, comedy was a recognizable classical concept, representing a range of generic possibilities with implications for tone, prosody, character range and narrative expectation. On the other hand, comedy had also become a vernacular English word which might mean little more than play or story, with no implication about content or style. This chapter suggests that Shakespeare was much more active than previously recognized in creating a dramatic genre built around self-consciously classical principles. The subsequent canonization of Shakespeare’s idiosyncratic take on the genre has in turn inflected the way the much more fluid work of his contemporaries has been read and understood. This chapter explores the multiple meanings of comedy in this early period alongside Shakespeare’s active intervention within it.

Nature and Natures

2019 ◽  
pp. 11-31
Author(s):  
Larry M. Jorgensen
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Final Causes ◽  
The Individual

This chapter formulates Leibniz’s naturalizing claims: what it is for a theory to be a natural theory. Three things will be emphasized: (a) Leibniz’s focus on individual natures, (b) Leibniz’s appeal to “rules of the good and beautiful,” and (c) the representational nature of individual substances, building the “rules of the good and beautiful” into the individual, active natures. This allows for a robust natural theory that is informed by the good, and, hence, final causes will form a part of the overall natural theory. This chapter also considers how to define the scope of Leibniz’s natural theory. It is initially unclear how Leibniz can avoid either (1) extending his natural theory to include God’s actions (hence, natural philosophy extends to theology) or, on the other hand, (2) identifying the boundaries of his natural philosophy in an ad hoc way. This chapter argues that Leibniz does avoid these two landmines.

Bacon's Imperialism

1958 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 470-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard B. White
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Francis Bacon ◽  
The Political ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
New Atlantis

To understand the political philosophy of Francis Bacon, or what he tried to do in political philosophy, one must make the clear-cut distinction he saw, I believe, between a provisional and a definitive political teaching. The latter, which he put chiefly in the New Atlantis and the De Sapientia Veterum, could be but imperfectly explored, because man could only build a final political teaching out of an as yet unconstructed natural philosophy. The former, on the other hand, could be known and conveyed with some precision. It was to serve the purpose of furnishing a temporary station for mankind, one that would be liveable and even comfortable as a dwelling place, and one that would at the same time, permit philosophy or science its own discovery of something better. Of the provisional political order, as Bacon saw it, there were three pillars: crown, church, and empire. The imperial pillar is certainly the most important to him of the three, and its construction required a greater boldness than the construction of either of the others.

Alchemy and Chemistry

2016 ◽  
pp. 499-508
Author(s):  
Anne-Lise Rey
Keyword(s):  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
General Science ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

This chapter focuses on Leibniz’s philosophical reflections on alchemy and chemistry, beginning with his views on chemistry and natural philosophy, then considering his understanding of chemical practices as a way to discover the intelligibility of nature. The traditional hypothesis of an alchemical influence behind Leibniz’s development of the monad concept is also discussed. Finally, the chapter looks at Leibniz’s views on the epistemic status of chemical principles. On the one hand, alchemical experiments are perfectly connected to Leibniz’s metaphysics; on the other hand, the alleged alchemical proximities of this metaphysics give way to a general science in which chemical experimentation has a well-identified function.

Note on the Beads found embedded in the top of the Two-foot Peat-bed (E) at St. Germans, near King’s Lynn.

1933 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horace C. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Specific Gravity ◽  
Glass Bead ◽  
Small Difference ◽  
Early Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
La Tène ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
La Tene

Seven beads were found, details of which are given below:—Bead No. 1.—Pale cobalt-coloured annular glass bead. Weight, 5·21 g.; sp. gr., 2·412. There are two varieties of this bead which are very similar: one is of the La Tene period, and the other is Saxon. There has been a small difference of specific gravity in practically all the specimens I have examined, but it is so slight that I do not think it is safe to trust as a means of dating them. At the same time it has been fairly consistent, as in twelve specimens from different sites dated to the early period in Britain, France, and the Mediterranean the specific gravity has been below 2·46, and the only other early specimen I have tested was 2·485. On the other hand, all the beads that I have tested which I know to be Saxon have a specific gravity of 2·485 or over. I have, however, recently seen a bead from Lincolnshire with the same specific gravity as this No. 1, which, I think, is probably Saxon. Blue annular Saxon beads of this type, but usually smaller, are more common in the eastern counties than in any other part of England.

Moderation and Dissent. The French Presidential Elections of 1995

Politics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
Nick Hewlett
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The Other ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
French Politics ◽  
French Presidential Elections ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

The results of the Presidential elections of April-May 1995 confirm that there are currently two parallel trends in French politics. On the one hand the mainstream left and mainstream right are increasingly contesting the middle ground, and a majority of voters accept this. On the other hand, a substantial minority of the electorate is keen to protest against the inability of any of the major parties to remedy France's socio-economic ills, and therefore votes for the marginal parties, the parties of dissension and protest.

Note on Centrobaric Shells

1897 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 117-118
Author(s):  
Tait
Keyword(s):  
Spherical Shell ◽  
Simple Proof ◽  
Surface Density ◽  
Natural Philosophy ◽  
Direct Proof ◽  
The Other ◽  
Internal Point ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Internal Particle ◽  
As If

It is singular to observe the comparative ease with which elementary propositions in attraction can be proved by one of the obvious methods, while the proof by the other is tedious.Thus nothing can be simpler than Newton's proof that a uniform spherical shell exerts no gravitating force on an internal particle. But, so far as I know, there is no such simple proof (of a direct character) that the potential is constant throughout the interior.On the other hand the direct proof that a spherical shell, whose surface-density is inversely as the cube of the distance from an internal point, is centrobaric is neither short nor simple. (See, for instance, Thomson and Tait's Elements of Natural Philosophy, § 491.) But we may prove at once that its potential at external points is the same as if its mass were condensed at the internal point.

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