Dear Readers , in this second part I have covered the salient features of -
the Rise of Science during the 17th century , which changed our world ! Kindly read its interesting story !
THE RISE OF SCIENCE : MODERN PHILOSOPHY : PART -II
STORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY
PART – II
**THE RISE OF SCIENCE**
Historical Background :
Some two thousand and five hundred year’s ago,
On the western coast of present day Turkey ;
Hugging the cool waters of the Aegean Sea ;
A group of Ionian Greeks revolutionized thought ;
By breaking the shackles of all mythical and
religious explanations ,
With their rational and logical deliberations !
Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes with their
innovative thoughts,
Explained the forces of nature by excluding all the
established Gods !
Thales, regarded as the ‘father of philosophy and
science’ ,
Was the first to postulate non-supernatural explanations ,
For natural phenomena such as lightning , eclipse and
earthquake ,
While investigating geometry and mathematics for its
own sake !
Leucippus and Democritus spoke of indivisible atoms ;
And around 3rd Century BC, Aristarchus spoke of a sun-
centered solar system !
Aristarchus’ assertion which was then dismissed as
ludicrous ;
Was again taken up 1800 years later, - by the Polish
astronomer Copernicus !
The ancient Greeks with their scientific bent of mind ,
Had pioneered astronomy, mathematics and geometry ,
Which was then included under one single subject titled
- ‘Philosophy’ !
During the 4th century BC , Aristotle in his School the
Lyceum ,
Was the first to create for Western Philosophy a fully
comprehensive system !
While Plato encouraged geometry, his pupil Aristotle
emphasized Natural philosophy .
Aristotle introduced empiricism by showing knowledge
comes from experience and observations ;
And the notion that universal truths can be arrived at
via induction ;
He thereby laid the foundation of scientific method
for later generations !
After the fall of Rome during 5th Century BC, his works
would have been lost to posterity ,
But for the translations by Arabic scholars of Aristotle’s
philosophy !
His works influenced both the Medieval Scholastics and
the Islamic scholars greatly !
Muslim physician and theologian Avicenna and Averroes,
during the 12th century AD ,
Expounded the doctrines of Aristotle and commented
on his philosophy !
Averroes’ interpretation of Aristotle had granted one
immortal intellect to all humanity ,
But the human soul was denied its immortality !
Averroes also mentioned the ‘double truth’ in Aristotle ,
Where truth of religion and truth of philosophy were both
upheld , and separated ;
Therefore the European Universities initially banned
Aristotle !
St. Thomas Aquinas tried to synthesize Aristotle with
Medieval Christian theology ,
And after a break , only Aristotle’s Logic was permitted
in the Universities !
Summing Up :
It was the Greek disdain for manual labor and cheap
availability of its slaves ,
That placed them behind in technical inventions and
in the industrial race !
Aristotle had truly laid the foundation for the beginning
of Science ,
But without the telescope his astronomy became a
childish romance !
For the lack of a microscope his biology remained
incomplete ,
Yet he had boldly proceeded with his speculations, -
without accepting defeat !
Let us judge those innovative Geeks in respect to
their age and time ,
Not to do so - would be rather unkind !
During the 17th century discovery of new instruments
and experimentations - began to remake Science ;
Making Francis Bacon, Kepler, Galileo and Newton ,
to redefine and to amend ;
Thereby bringing the long reign of Aristotle to an end !
THE 17th CENTURY : AGE OF REASON
“Almost everything that distinguishes the modern world
from earlier centuries is attributable to science , which
achieved its most spectacular triumph in the 17th century.”
- Bertrand Russell .
The 17thCentury, also known in the West as the ‘Age of
Reason’ ,
Followed the philosophy of the Renaissance , but
preceded the Age of Enlightenment .
When Copernicus, Kepler, Bacon, Galileo and Newton
began modern science ;
An eventful era in Europe with many political alliance !
The Frenchman Descartes began modern philosophy ;
While Thomas Hobbes and John Locke stated modern
Political theory .
Europe saw strong centralized states competing for wealth
and power ,
With accelerated pace of colonization in both Asia and
America !
The invention of scientific instruments made sooner or later ;
Saw Galileo’s prism telescope, Leeuwenhoek’s microscope,
Pascal’s adding machine and Torricelli’s barometer !
With Gilbert’s book on magnets, Harvey’s circulation of blood,
Boyle’s Gas Laws, and Newton’s Laws of Gravitation ;
This dynamic century saw the beginning of a Scientific
Revolution ! ( To be continued )
Dear readers, as I continue with my ‘Story of Modern
Philosophy’ ,
I shall cover a few of its famous stalwarts in my next
Part-Three ;
Thank you for reading patiently, from Raj Nandy of
New Delhi . ( E-mail: rajnandy21@yahoo.in )
** All Copyrights With the Author Only **
Thank you, it took me a while to read it but it is nothing compare to a search through many centuries of philosophy..Thank you for share, it makes a wonderful learning .
very interesting to read we can always go back to read on this as a reference you put a lot of work in this good for us....still got 25 stitches in the rt hand...regards
what a vast sweep of history and human though you cover in your series...astounding
Wonderful, Mr.Nandy... I bookmarked this. Indah
good work...much informative...kudos for the effort behind
Very interesting as usual, you have taken on a epic task in your narrative of knowledge Raj.
thanks for inviting me to read this one... I agree with Mr. C.P. Sharma, where do you store all this knowledge, sir??? again, thanks for sharing...
Erudite poetry. Hey Raj, Where do you store all this knowledge, lol....I read it from my heart and loved it.
This is a vast study only in its part, Informative and interesting. I will look forward to your conclusion. Thanks for your work.. Cat