Philosophical Background to the Modern World - Timothy R. Quigley

More documents

Recommendations

Info

egins with the questions, "What is it?" and "Why does it look the way it does?" According toAristotle, the answer always involves four "causes".1. material: because it's made of marble.2. efficient: because it was made in this particular way, by a sculptor with a hammer andchisel, rather than some other way, e.g. by modeling in clay.3. formal: because it has the form it has, i.e. an athlete throwing a discus.4. final: because it has a purpose or goal, e.g. to present an ideal type of human being, or topay tribute to a great athlete, etc.This analysis of a thing into its four causes wasapplied to natural as well as artificial objects.Unfortunately, the division seems less plausible whenit's applied to certain elements of nature, say, forexample, stone or fire. What's the purpose of a stone?Aristotle would say its purpose is to fall toward thecenter of the earth. The purpose of fire? To rise towardthe heavens. The problem here is that such claimsseem arbitrary, contrived, and not terribly useful orenlightening. Thus, while it's easy enough to specifythe material, formal and in some cases the efficientcause of a natural object, it often requires a stretch ofthe imagination to formulate a final goal or purpose forit.CosmologyFinally, I want to look very briefly at Aristotle's viewof astronomical order and motion since this will be theview that various scholars will use to reject theinsights of Copernicus (1473-1543) and Galileo (1564-1642) in the Renaissance.As we have seen, for Aristotle, all change is movement toward an end. This is known as ateleological view (and will be easily incorporated in the Middle Ages, by Thomas Aquinas(1224-1274) and others, into a Christian theology which sees the world as "God's plan".)"Teleology" comes from the Greek word telos which means goal. The "-logy" in "teleology"comes from logos which, in this context, we can translate roughly as "the theory or study of".Thus psychology is the study of the psyche; sociology the study of social forms; and teleology,the study of goals or goal-directed behavior.But it seems natural to assume that if everything has an end toward which it moves, there mustalso be a "place" from which it comes. In other words, it makes sense to ask about the ultimateends and starting points for the things that exist. Is there a final resting place for all things – anultimate stasis in which all things come to a stop and change no more? And was there abeginning of all things – a time prior to the existence of things and before any changes occurred?Page 6 of 12 | 17thCentBkrnd.doc
One way to approach this problem of origins and goals is through a particular aspect ormanifestation, e.g. that of motion. According to Aristotle, everything that is in motion must havebeen put in motion by something which was itself in motion. This is true on a microscopic aswell as a macroscopic scale. The principle assumption here is that every particular movementcan be traced back to a prior movement. But if this is true, what could possibly have put the firstthing into motion? Aristotle reasoned that there must be a first mover which is itself unmoved.That unmoved mover constitutes the ultimate and eternal God in Aristotle's scheme of things.Not a personal God – just a logical necessity – but eternal nonetheless.Aristotle also argued that the unmoved mover is immaterial and that it initiates an eternalcircular motion which is both the basis of all the motions of natural objects in the universe andis the most perfect motion. Thus, the universe, he claimed, was composed of a set of concentricspheres at the center of which was a stationary earth. The motion of the stars and planets wasexplained in terms of the motion of these concentric spheres.These are some of the fundamental components of Aristotle's view of the physical andintellectual world around us. For reasons that were both politically and theologically motivated,his ideas had to be reckoned with in most philosophical discussions throughout the modern age.We'll encounter them again and again in our readings and discussions this semester.Next we turn to two other aspects that shaped scientific and philosophical thinking going into theseventeenth century – Mechanism and Mysticism.II. MechanismThe fifteenth and sixteenth centuries brought a renewed interest in the observation of nature andthe quantification of natural phenomena. For example, the rediscovery of perspectival drawing –geometrical and optical techniques that allow a convincing rendering of space in two dimensions– contributed to a transformation in our relation to, and representation of, the visual world. Andthe use of mathematics to characterize the constitution, motion, and behavior of both terrestrialand astronomical objects challenged the role of deductive logic as the primary tool of scientificinvestigation.The importance accorded to mathematics during the scientific revolution of the sixteenth centurygoes back to Pythagorean, Platonic, and Arabic traditions. The emerging influence of the Arabworld on European scholarship during the Middle Ages, the rebirth of interest in Plato, andtranslations of the works of Archimedes (287 ? -212 BCE) all contributed to an intellectual climatethat made possible the work of Copernicus, Kepler (1571-1630), Galileo, and the rise of a highlymechanistic and technological view of the universe.There were also practical and technological uses to which the new science could be put which,no doubt, stimulated a good deal of support and financial backing. So, for example, themathematical study of the use of cannons increased the efficiency of warfare, and significantimprovements in navigational and optical instruments led to more effective travel and moreaccurate medical research. The collaboration of philosophers, scientists, artists, and artisansPage 7 of 12 | 17thCentBkrnd.doc
Page 1 and 2: Philosophical Background to the Mod
Page 3 and 4: Forms are distinguishable in though
Page 5: world. Every change is thus a comin
Page 9 and 10: orn the year Galileo died, consider
Page 11 and 12: from these conditions. But I do not

Philosophical Background to the Modern World - Timothy R. Quigley

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?