DOCSLIB.ORG

The Role of Mathematics in Francis Bacon's Natural Philosophy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Role of Mathematics in Francis Bacon's Natural Philosophy The Role of Mathematics in Francis Bacon’s Natural Philosophy Ünsal Çimen A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. April 2016 Abstract In this study, I discuss the role of mathematics in Francis Bacon’s natural philosophy. Bacon was one of the important figures of early modern philosophy and has been accepted as one of the frontier philosophers of modern science. The increasing role of mathematics in natural philosophy was an important development of this period of time, which raises the question of whether Bacon approved of the new role of mathematics in natural philosophy. The new role of mathematics in natural philosophy was mainly developed by astronomers such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, and can be defined as ‘making natural philosophical claims through mathematics’. I will examine the role of mathematics in Baconian natural philosophy by considering the following questions: Can Bacon’s attitude towards the role of mathematics be accepted as Aristotelian? Were there similarities between Bacon and al–Bitruji in their ideas of how an astronomical model should be established? Is there any difference in Bacon’s attitude towards mathematics between his earlier and later works? Can we use Bacon’s approach to arithmetical quantification to refute the claim that he was against the new role of mathematics? i Was there any similarity between the attitude of Bacon and neo-Platonist chemical philosophers towards mathematics? Is there any relation between the non–mechanical character of Bacon’s philosophy and his attitude towards mathematics? Is there any relation between his matter theory and his attitude towards mathematics? Throughout this thesis, I emphasise that Bacon attached importance to applying mathematics to natural philosophy, however, was against the idea of making natural philosophical claims through mathematics. I argue that he had two fundamental commitments for being distrustful towards mathematics’ ability in making natural philosophical claims; his first being the consistency between the human mind and the course of logic and mathematics, and the second being the inconsistency between the course of nature (matter) and the course of logic and mathematics. ii Acknowledgements Primarily, I would like to thank my supervisors, Michael LeBuffe, Peter Anstey, and Alan Musgrave for their guidance and support. I would also like thank other academic staff, postgraduate students and administrative staff in the Philosophy Department of Otago University. Many thanks to Orna Harari, for her helpful discussion regarding issues arising from her fine book ‘Knowledge and demonstration: Aristotle’s posterior analytics’; to Sophie Weeks, for many helpful suggestions regarding mathematical models and philosophical mechanics for mathematical sciences; and to Çig dem Du ru şken and C. Cengiz Çevik, for their Latin translations. Additional thanks to the University of Otago for providing the financial support through its postgraduate scholarship, and for funding me with a travel grant to attend the Philhist ‘15, II. International History of Philosophy Conference in Istanbul. iii Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….................1 1 The Relation between the Mathematical Sciences and Natural Philosophy, and the Aristotelian Facet of Francis Bacon…......………….9 1.1 The development of the distinction between mathematical sciences and natural philosophy……………………...……….………………….................10 1.2 The place of mixed mathematics in Baconian natural philosophy…………………………………………………………….………………….15 1.3 Bacon’s loyalty to the Aristotelian disciplinary boundary between mathematical sciences and natural philosophy …….………..…………..21 1.4 Summary………………………………………………………………………................27 2 Two Reasons Bacon Disapproved of Making Natural Philosophical Claims through Mathematics……………….………………………………………..29 iv 2.1 Rational method, the errors of the human mind and the properties of matter …………………………………………………………………………………..29 2.1.1 Searching for the properties of matter beyond nature ….....29 2.1.2 Finding rest among the general axioms…………………………...38 2.1.3 Mathematics as a way to attribute excessive orderliness to nature……………………………………………………………………………40 2.2 The human mind and the subtlety of matter…………………....……........43 2.3 Bacon’s inductive experimental method and the errors of the human mind……………………………………………………………………………...48 2.4 Summary………………………………….…………………..…………………………...52 3 Francis Bacon: A Physical Realist..…………………….……..…………………..54 3.1 Physical realists vs. Mathematical realists …….……………………...........55 3.2 Arabic opposition to Ptolemy..……………………………………...……………57 3.3 The hide of an ox: astronomy which presents only the exterior part of the heavens………………………………………………………………...…………62 3.4 Did Bacon adopt al–Bitruji’s mathematical model of the heavens before he developed his physical model?....................................................72 v 3.5 Bacon’s physical statements and his astronomical theory…….……..74 3.6 Summary……………………………………………………………………………….….78 4 Geometrical Abstraction vs. Arithmetical Quantification……..………80 4.1 Arithmetical quantification in Bacon’s natural historical works……81 4.1.1 Examples of quantification from the writings of Bacon…......83 4.1.2 Mathematical instances (instances of measurement)…..……85 4.2 Can we use Bacon’s arithmetical quantitative works to refute the argument that he denied the new role of mathematics in the sciences?......................................................................................................................99 4.3 Do the arithmetical quantitative works of Bacon call his distrust of the entire quasi–deductive structure of mathematical sciences into question?.........................................................................................................106 4.4 Summary…………………………...…….…………………………..…………………..109 5 Clarification of the Role of Mathematics in Baconian Natural Philosophy by Considering Active and Passive Matter Theories..111 5.1 The chemical philosophy on the unmoved mover and vi Mathematics…………………………………………………………………………..112 5.2 Active matter as the reason for being against logical and mathematical methods in natural inquiries………………………….......118 5.2.1 Action at a distance, motion through the impact of particles, and the role of mathematics in natural philosophy….........124 5.2.2 Did Bacon think that Democritus’ doctrine of atoms was a mechanical account of motion in matter?................................129 5.3 Summary…………………………...……………………………………………………133 6 External Mechanics and Mathematics………………….…………………..…136 6.1 External mechanics and philosophical mechanics…………….............138 6.2 The Baconian labyrinth–like nature, geometrically structured nature, and their relation with external mechanics and the system of machinery………………...…………………………………………………………142 6.3 Summary……………..…………………….……………………………………………149 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….………………………….151 References……………………………………………………………………………………….156 vii List of Figures Figure 1 Speculative part of Bacon’s natural philosophy…………………….......16 Figure 2 The distinction between pure and mixed mathematics in the Baconian schema………………………………………………………………….…19 Figure 3 Detailed schema of speculative and operative part of Bacon’s natural philosophy.................................................................................................19 Figure 4 Three types of velocity represented geometrically by Oresme….……………………………………………………………………..............102 Figure 5 Ascending and descending parts of Bacon’s natural philosophy……………….…………………………………………………………….139 viii Introduction Bacon’s attitude towards the role of mathematics in natural philosophy is an ongoing debate among scholars. Some researchers have argued that Bacon neglected the role of mathematics in sciences. For example, John William Draper, in his A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe states: Ignorant himself of every branch of mathematics, he presumed that they were useless in science, but a few years before Newton achieved by their aid his immortal discoveries (Draper, 1875, p. 233). Another example can be given from Lynn Thorndike: He [Bacon] complained that Aristotle had mixed it [natural philosophy] with logic; Plato, with natural theology; and the Neo– Platonists, with mathematics. This suggests what from the standpoint of modern science was his chief defect, his total disregard of mathematical method. He spoke of pure mathematics as, like the game of tennis, of no use in itself but as good exercise to cure intellectual defects (Thorndike, 1958, pp. 66–7).1 However, there are other more recent scholars who have argued against this view. Graham Rees was the most important scholar, whose works has been important in improving our understanding of Bacon. More recently, Peter Urbach’s (1987), Stephen Gaukroger’s (2001), Mary Domski’s (2013) and 1. For similar views on Bacon and mathematics, see also Hochberg (1953, p. 322). 1 Dana Jalobeanu’s (2016b) works have extended our views regarding Bacon’s attitude towards mathematics’ role in natural philosophy. All of these scholars are in agreement that Bacon gave an auxiliary role to mathematics in natural inquiries, and this agreement has come about due to Bacon’s statement in the De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623): I have thought it better to designate Mathematics, seeing that they are of so much importance both in Physics and Metaphysics, and Mechanics and Magic, as appendices and auxiliaries to them all (Bacon, De augmentis,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Notes to the Note on the Text and Introduction
    Notes Notes to the Note on the Text and Introduction i. Mandeville’s address is repeated at the end of the Preface: “From my House in Manchester-Court, Channel-Row, Westminster.” ii. A Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Passions, vulgarly call’d the hypo in men and vapours in women; In which the Symptoms, Causes, and Cure of those Diseases are set forth after a Method intirely new. The whole interspers’d, with Instructive Discourses on the Real art of Physick it self; And Entertaining Remarks on the Modern Practice of Physicians and Apothecaries; Very useful to all, that have the Misfortune to stand in need of either. In three dialogues. By B. de Mandeville, M.D. (London, printed for and to be had of the author, at his house in Manchester-Court, in Channel- Row, Westminster; and D. Leach, in the Little-Old-Baily, and W. Taylor, at the Ship in Pater-Noster-­Row, and J. Woodward in Scalding-Alley, near Stocks-Market, 1711). The second 1711 issue bears the following publica- tion details: “London, printed and sold by Dryden Leach, in Elliot’s Court, in the Little-Old-Baily, and W. Taylor, at the Ship in Pater-Noster-Row, 1711”. The 1715 reprint bears the same title with different publication details (London, printed by Dryden Leach, in Elliot’s Court, in the Little Old-Baily, and sold by Charles Rivington, at the Bible and Crown, near the Chapter-House in St. Paul’s Church Yard, 1715). A Treatise of the Hypochondriack and Hysterick Diseases. In three dialogues.
    [Show full text]
  • Spontaneous Generation & Origin of Life Concepts from Antiquity to The
    SIMB News News magazine of the Society for Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology April/May/June 2019 V.69 N.2 • www.simbhq.org Spontaneous Generation & Origin of Life Concepts from Antiquity to the Present :ŽƵƌŶĂůŽĨ/ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂůDŝĐƌŽďŝŽůŽŐLJΘŝŽƚĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ Impact Factor 3.103 The Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology is an international journal which publishes papers in metabolic engineering & synthetic biology; biocatalysis; fermentation & cell culture; natural products discovery & biosynthesis; bioenergy/biofuels/biochemicals; environmental microbiology; biotechnology methods; applied genomics & systems biotechnology; and food biotechnology & probiotics Editor-in-Chief Ramon Gonzalez, University of South Florida, Tampa FL, USA Editors Special Issue ^LJŶƚŚĞƚŝĐŝŽůŽŐLJ; July 2018 S. Bagley, Michigan Tech, Houghton, MI, USA R. H. Baltz, CognoGen Biotech. Consult., Sarasota, FL, USA Impact Factor 3.500 T. W. Jeffries, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA 3.000 T. D. Leathers, USDA ARS, Peoria, IL, USA 2.500 M. J. López López, University of Almeria, Almeria, Spain C. D. Maranas, Pennsylvania State Univ., Univ. Park, PA, USA 2.000 2.505 2.439 2.745 2.810 3.103 S. Park, UNIST, Ulsan, Korea 1.500 J. L. Revuelta, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain 1.000 B. Shen, Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA 500 D. K. Solaiman, USDA ARS, Wyndmoor, PA, USA Y. Tang, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA E. J. Vandamme, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium H. Zhao, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA 10 Most Cited Articles Published in 2016 (Data from Web of Science: October 15, 2018) Senior Author(s) Title Citations L. Katz, R. Baltz Natural product discovery: past, present, and future 103 Genetic manipulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis for improved production in Streptomyces and R.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Early Modern Low Countries 1 (2017) 2, pp. 273-296 - eISSN: 2543-1587 273 The Banished Scholar Beverland, Sex, and Liberty in the Seventeenth-Century Low Countries Karen Hollewand Karen Hollewand completed her ba and ma at the University of Utrecht before moving to England, where she finished her dphil on the banishment of Beverland at the University of Oxford in 2016. She is interested in the early modern social, cultural, and intellectual history of Europe and of the Low Countries in particular. Currently, she is editing her thesis for publication, working on an English translation of Beverland’s De Peccato Originali with Floris Verhaart, and developing a new research project on sex and science in the early modern period. Abstract Scholar Hadriaan Beverland was banished from Holland in 1679. Why was this humanist exiled from one of the most tolerant parts of Europe in the seventeenth century? This arti- cle argues that it was Beverland’s singular focus on sexual lust that got him into such great trouble. In his studies, he highlighted the importance of sex in human nature, history, and his own society. Dutch theologians disliked his theology, exegesis, and his use of erudition to mock their authority. His humanist colleagues did not support him either, since Bev- erland threatened the basis of the humanist enterprise by drawing attention to the sexual side of the classical world. And Dutch magistrates were happy to convict the young scholar, because he had insolently accused them of hypocrisy. By restricting sex to marriage, in compliance with Reformed doctrine, secular authorities upheld a sexual morality that was unattainable, Beverland argued, and he proposed honest discussion of the problem of sex.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of Uremia Research
    ICURT PROCEEDINGS A History of Uremia Research Garabed Eknoyan, MD The history of uremia research begins with the discovery of urea and the subsequent association of elevated blood urea levels with the kidney disease described by Richard Bright, a well told story that needs no recounting. What this article highlights is how clinical and laboratory studies of urea launched the analysis of body fluids, first of urine and then of blood, that would beget organic chemistry, paved the way for the study of renal function and the use of urea clearance to determine ‘‘renal efficiency,’’ provided for the initial classification of kidney disease, and clarified the concepts of diffusion and osmosis that would lead to the development of dialysis. Importantly and in contrast to how the synthesis of urea in the laboratory heralded the death of ‘‘vitalism,’’ the clinical use of dialysis restored the ‘‘vitality’’ of comatose unresponsive dying uremic patients. The quest for uremic toxins that followed has made major contributions to what has been facetiously termed ‘‘molecular vitalism.’’ In the course of these major achievements derived from the study of urea, the meaning of ‘‘what is life’’ has been gradually liberated from its past attribution to supernatural forces (vital spirit, archaeus, and vital force) thereby estab- lishing the autonomy of biological life in which the kidney is the master chemist of the living body. Ó 2017 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. HE HISTORY OF uremia research can be traced to supernatural forces that had been assumed for millennia T the Scientific Revolution when urea was discovered, past, and thereby established the autonomy of biological through the Enlightenment when it was isolated and char- life in which the kidney is the master chemist of the acterized, the early modern period when it was synthesized living body.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Copy 2020 05 12 Leen
    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Leendertz-Ford, Anna S T Title: Anatomy of Seventeenth-Century Alchemy and Chemistry General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. ANATOMY OF SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ALCHEMY AND CHEMISTRY ANNA STELLA THEODORA LEENDERTZ-FORD A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts, School of Philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • Francis Bacon, Jan Baptist Van Helmont and Demetrius Cantemir
    SWEDISH JOURNAL OF ROMANIAN STUDIES FRANCIS BACON, JAN BAPTIST VAN HELMONT AND DEMETRIUS CANTEMIR. FAMILY RESEMBLANCES OF AUCTORITAS IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE Sorin CIUTACU West University of Timisoara, Romania e-mail: [email protected] Abstract: The present paper stakes out the destiny of certain ideas on scientific methods and epistemic and ontological representations that spread in 17th century Europe like a cultural epidemiology of representations against a deist, theosophical, empiricist and occult maze-like background. Our intellectual history study evaluates the family resemblances of auctoritas of three polymaths: Francis Bacon, Jan Baptist Van Helmont and Demetrius Cantemir along the cultural corridors of knowledge. If Francis Bacon was a theoretical founder of doctrines and Jan Baptist Van Helmont was a complex experimenting spirit, Demetrius Cantemir was an able disseminator of philosophy in South Eastern Europe and a creative synthetic spirit bridging the Divan ideas of Western and Eastern minds caught up in the busy exchange of ideas of the Republic of Letters. Keywords: Francis Bacon; Jan Baptist Van Helmont; Demetrius Cantemir; cultural epidemiology of representations; auctoritas; family resemblances; Early Modern Europe; polymaths; corridors of knowledge; Republic of Letters; 1. Introduction The 17th century stood for a transition period between an ontological outlook of vitalism that typified Renaissance thinking through to the early modern outlook of Francis Bacon, the founder of the scientific method to the mechanistic thinking put forward by Descartes and Newton. The present paper stakes out the destiny of certain ideas on scientific methods and epistemic and ontological representations that spread in 17th century Europe like a cultural epidemiology of representations against a deist, theosophical, empiricist and occult maze-like background (see also Sperber, 1996).
    [Show full text]
  • Daily 40 No. 6 – Johann Baptista Van Helmont
    Daily 40 no. 6 – Johann Baptista van Helmont Daily 40 Hall of Fame! Congratulations to these writers! Van Helmont, a iatrochemist, was born 1579 in Belgium. He believed that matter was indestructible, and checked if his products were equal to his reactants. Van Helmont is regarded as the father of pneumatic chemistry and recognized the existence of gases different from the surrounding air. --Andrew Johann Baptista van Helmont of Belgium (1579-1644) signified the transition from alchemy to chemistry. While he claimed to have converted mercury to gold, he studied gases using experimental methods and balances, discovered carbon dioxide, and, upon carefully measuring a tree’s growth for five years, realized that matter is indestructible. --Chantal Johann Baptista van Helmont, born in 1579 in Belgium, represented the transformation between alchemy and chemistry and also recognized and characterized gases. He discovered carbon dioxide and was the first to use a balance in chemical work. He rejected Aristotle's four elements but supported air and water as foundational elements. --Gennelle Johann Baptista van Helmont was a Flemish iatrochemist who lived from 1579-1644 and founded pneumatic chemistry. He discovered that matter cannot be destroyed or created. Helmont regarded air and water as elements but he did not see earth and fire as elements. His greatest legacy is inventing the word gas. --Isaac Johann Baptista van Helmont(1579-1644) was a Flemish chemist who believed that matter was indestructible. He was interested in alchemy mainly for medicinal purposes. He tried to burn charcoal and capture the gases, which he called “spiritus silvestri, or “breath of wood.” His work heralded the transition from alchemy to chemistry.
    [Show full text]
  • An Alchemical Quest for Universal Knowledge:  E ‘Christian Philosophy’ of Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579–1644) Is Divided Into Two Main Parts
    AN ALCHEMICAL UEST FOR UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE History of science credits the Flemish physician, alchemist and philosopher Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579–1644) for his contributions to the development of chemistry and medicine. Yet, as this book makes clear, focussing on Van Helmont’s impact on modern science does not do justice to the complexity of his thought or to his in uence on successive generations of intellectuals like Robert Boyle or Gottfried Leibniz. Revealing Van Helmont as an original thinker who sought to produce a post- Scholastic synthesis of religion and natural philosophy, Georgiana Hedesan recon- structs his ambitious quest for universal knowledge as it emerges from the text of the Ortus medicinae (1648). Published a er Van Helmont’s death by his son, the work can best be understood as a compilation of nished and un nished treatises, the his- torical product of a life unsettled by religious persecution and personal misfortune. e present book provides a coherent account of Van Helmont’s philosophy by ana- lysing its main tenets. Divided into two parts, the study opens with a background to Van Helmont’s concept of an alchemical Christian philosophy, demonstrating that his outlook was deeply grounded in the tradition of medical alchemy as reformed by eo- phrastus von Hohenheim, called Paracelsus (1493–1541). It then reconstitutes Van Helmont’s biography, while giving a historical dimension to his intellectual output. e second part reconstructs Van Helmont’s Christian philosophy, investigating his views on God, nature and man, as well as his applied philosophy. Hedesan also provides an account of the development of Van Helmont’s thought throughout his life.
    [Show full text]
  • Paracelsian Medicine and Theory of Generation in 'Exterior Homo', A
    Med. Hist. (2014), vol. 58(3), pp. 375–396. c The Author 2014. Published by Cambridge University Press 2014 doi:10.1017/mdh.2014.29 Paracelsian Medicine and Theory of Generation in ‘Exterior homo’, a Manuscript Probably Authored by Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579–1644) GEORGIANA D. HEDESAN* University of Oxford, History Faculty, George Street, Oxford OX1 2RL, UK Abstract: This article discusses a Latin manuscript that can be found in the Jan Baptist Van Helmont (1579–1644) archives in Mechelen (Malines), Belgium. The manuscript bears no author and no title, and begins with the words ‘Exterior homo’, hence being referred by this provisional title in the analysis. Ecclesiastical prosecutors investigating Van Helmont for heresy in 1634 considered that it was written by him, but this was vehemently denied by the Flemish physician. The present article takes a first detailed look at the content of the treatise and ideas contained therein. It hence identifies the manuscript as belonging to a seventeenth-century physician influenced by the ideas of Theophrastus Paracelsus (1493–1541) and his interpreter Petrus Severinus (1542–1602), and containing a complex medical philosophy drawn on alchemical thought. Thus, the anonymous author presents a comprehensive view on the nature and structure of man, as well as an idiosyncratic theory of human generation. Following the analysis of the treatise, the article further compares it with the known works of J.B. Van Helmont, and finds that it is very similar to his ideas. Hence, the article concludes that it is ‘likely’ that the manuscript is indeed written by Van Helmont, although lack of direct evidence prevents certain attribution.
    [Show full text]
  • Dr Jan Ingenhousz, Or Why Don't We Know Who Discovered Photosynthesis?
    paper 1st Conference of the European Philosophy of Science Association Madrid, 15-17 November 2007 Dr Jan IngenHousz, or why don't we know who discovered photosynthesis? Geerdt Magiels1 Abstract Who discovered photosynthesis? Not many people know. Jan IngenHousz' name has been forgotten, his life and works have disappeared in the mists of time. Still, the tale of his scientific endeavour shows science in action. Not only does it open up an undisclosed chapter of the history of science, it is an ideal (as under researched) episode in the history of science that can help to shine some light on the ingredients and processes that shape the development of science. This paves the way for a fresh multidimensional approach in the philosophy of science: towards an "ecology of science". Introduction Unravelling the story of Jan IngenHousz will twine strands of history of science and of philosophy of science together in equal measures. Imre Lakatos' dictum will be expanded fully in this particular examination of a very specific episode in the development of scientific knowledge: "Philosophy of science without history is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind."1 The materials on which this study is based are as diverse as coherent. The officially published books ands articles by IngenHousz form the obvious core of this study, but equally important are the letters, travel notes and diaries of IngenHousz that have been until now not properly researched. A third important element in this approach will be the reconstruction of the scientific experiments IngenHousz conducted, with the help of the detailed instructions he himself wrote for the proper design and use of the so-called eudiometer.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    1 1 Introduction 1.1 Life Sciences – A Definition 1.1.1 A Short Definition of Life The term life sciences is ubiquitously integrated into our everyday life. It has become a standard expression. To understand the content, challenges, and ten- dencies of life sciences, it is necessary to define the term life. Today, there exist more than 50 different definitions depending on the scientific field and the strate- gic focus. In general, life can be defined as a characteristic property, which sep- arates living matter from inorganic matter. The main characteristics include the exchange of matter and energy, reproduction, and growth. The definition of the term life in philosophy also follows these criteria [1]. Aris- totle differentiated three levels of life in a hierarchical order. The lowest level included plants, whose life is characterized only by nutrition and reproduction. The next level included animals, which have the additional features of sensory perception and movement. The human, whose life is, besides the fundamental functions, characterized by thinking processes, is the highest level in Aristotle’s hierarchy. In the western philosophy of the modern era, two contrary general opinions developed: mechanism [2] and vitalism [3]. Promoters of mechanism explain life processes from the concept of physical laws of movement. The living organism is considered a machine. Main supporters of this idea were William Harvey (1578–1657), Rene Descartes (1596–1650), and Wilhelm Roux (1850–1924). In contrast to this idea, vitalism proposed a significant difference between organic and inorganicCOPYRIGHTED matter, whereby life is connected MATERIAL to organic compounds. A targeted living power (vis vitalis) characterizes all living matter.
    [Show full text]
  • Henry More and the Development of Absolute Time.', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A., 54
    Durham Research Online Deposited in DRO: 05 December 2016 Version of attached le: Accepted Version Peer-review status of attached le: Peer-reviewed Citation for published item: Thomas, Emily (2015) 'Henry More and the development of absolute time.', Studies in history and philosophy of science part A., 54 . pp. 11-19. Further information on publisher's website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2015.06.003 Publisher's copyright statement: c 2015 This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Additional information: Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 | Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971 https://dro.dur.ac.uk Henry More and the Development of Absolute Time This paper explores the nature, development and influence of the first English account of absolute time, put forward in the mid-seventeenth century by the ‘Cambridge Platonist’ Henry More.
    [Show full text]