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Natural Philosophy
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'''Natural philosophy''' or the '''philosophy of nature''', known in
Latin as ''philosophia naturalis'', is a term applied to the
objectivity objective study of
nature and the physical
universe that was regnant before the development of
modern science. It is considered the counterpart, or to the
positivism positivists the precursor, of what is now called
natural science, especially
physics.
Forms of
science historically developed out of
philosophy or more specifically natural philosophy. At older
university universities, long-established Chairs of Natural Philosophy are nowadays occupied mainly by
professors of
physics. Our notions of ''science'' and ''scientists'' date only to the
19th century. Before then, the word "science" simply meant knowledge and the label of ''scientist'' did not exist.
Isaac Newton's 1687 scientific treatise is known as ''The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy''.
The term has been revived in the context of the
creation-evolution controversy by those concerned that modern science does not accept
supernatural explanations.
Origin of the term
''Natural philosophy'' was the term whose usage preceded our current term
science in the sense that prior to the replacement of the term ''natural philosophy'' with the term ''science'', the term ''science'' was used exclusively (and comparatively rarely) as a synonym for knowledge or study and when the subject of that knowledge or study was 'the workings of nature', then the term ''natural philosophy'' would be used. Natural philosophy became science (''scientia'' in Latin, which means "knowledge") when
induction_(philosophy) inductive methods of knowledge acquisition, known as the
scientific method became emphasized over pure deduction.
Figures in natural philosophy
While proposals for a much more 'inquisitive' and practical approach to the study of nature originated with
Francis Bacon,
Robert Boyle wrote what is considered to be a seminal work on the distinction between nature and
metaphysics called ''
A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature''. This book, written in
1686, marked the point where the scene was set for natural philosophy to turn into science. It represented a radical departure from the
scholasticism of the
Middle Ages, and while features of natural philosophy retained some of the trappings of the
elitism associated with its precursor, natural philosophy was arguably
empiricism empirical while previous attempts to describe
nature were not. An important distinguishing characteristic of science and natural philosophy is the fact that natural philosophers generally did not feel compelled to test their ideas in a practical way. Instead, they
observation observed phenomena and came up with 'philosophical' conclusions.
Boyle, while he is the first to fully embrace such an approach in both his experimental endeavours and his writings, shares with Bacon (and
Galileo who was the inspiration in these matters for both Bacon and Boyle) a conviction that practical experimental observation was the key to a more satisfactory understanding of nature than would have otherwise been sought through either exclusive reference to received authority or a purely speculative approach.
Although Galileo's 'natural philosophy' is hardly distinguishable from science in many ways, the connection between his experiments and his writings about them is characteristically philosophical, rather than being cluttered with the results of meticulously recorded observational detail of practical scientific research, in the way that Boyle subsequently advocated.
Even though Boyle described what he practiced as 'natural philosophy', the very innovations that Boyle introduced can be seen as a basis for delineating a transition from proto-science to science. Among these innovations are an insistence upon the publication of detailed experimental results, including the results of unsuccessful experiments; and also a requirement for the replication of experiments as a means of validating observational claims.
Thus Boyle's application of the term 'natural philosophy' to his own work may be regarded an anachronistic conflation with earlier proto-science, since the distinction between the terms 'natural philosophy' and 'science' only arose after Boyle's passing.
Boyle would therefore describe his work as 'natural philosophy', whereas we would describe it as 'science'; and yet Boyle's use was correct for his own time. Nonetheless, he is in many ways the architect of the modern distinction between the two terms.
The ancient emphasis on deduction has its representative in Aristotle's ''Organum'', and the new emphasis on induction and research has its representative in
Francis Bacon's treatise ''Novum Organum''.
Descartes formulation
In
René Descartes'
metaphysics metaphysical system of
dualism, there are two kinds of substance: matter and mind. According to this system, everything which is "matter" is
determinism deterministic and natural -- and so belongs to natural philosophy -- and everything which is "mind" is
free will volitional and non-natural, and falls outside the domain of philosophy of nature.
Revival
In the context of the
creation-evolution controversy the term has been revived (or, some would claim, appropriated) by proponents of
creationism, particularly
creation science and
intelligent design, who argue that modern science is wrong in not accepting the
supernatural explanations they put forward.
David Snoke has written ''Natural Philosophy: A Survey of Physics and Western Thought'' as a textbook on
physics as ''natural philosophy'' grounded in Christian
theology and
Biblical studies biblical study.[http://www.arn.org/arnproducts/books/b072.htm] [http://www.theoldhomeschoolhouse.com/reviews/reviews.php?rid=909]
See also
*
History of science
*
Natural history
*
Natural science
*
Naturalism (philosophy)
*
Nature
External links
-
Past Exhibit in Philosophical Hall by
American Philosophical Society APS.
Category:History of physics
Category:History of science
Category:Philosophy
de:Naturphilosophie
ja:自然哲å¦
nl:Natuurfilosofie
pl:Filozofia przyrody
pt:Filosofia natural
ru:Ð?атурфилоÑ?офиÑ?
zh:自然哲å¦
see
Natural philosophy
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