From Magic to Science or The Ancients - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 16
About This Presentation
Title:

From Magic to Science or The Ancients

Description:

Earth is fixed, unchanging, center of universe ... 'Cogito, ergo sum':'I think, therefore I am.' Impact of this insight? New Understanding of ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:57
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 17
Provided by: francesk
Learn more at: http://faculty.gvsu.edu
Category:
Tags: ancients | ergo | magic | science

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: From Magic to Science or The Ancients


1
From Magic to ScienceorThe Ancients The
Moderns
  • The Scientific Revolution
  • 16th and 17th Centuries

2
How do we explain change?
  • Your car wont start what do you do?
  • You get sick what do you do?

3
Medieval Cosmology
  • Earth is fixed, unchanging, center of universe
  • Heavens surround earth Moon and stars move in
    fixed patterns set by God
  • Genesis describes creation
  • Task for people explain change, I.E., Any
    deviation from normal

4
Sources of Medieval World View
  • Bible
  • Scholastic Theology (Aquinas)
  • The Ancients
  • Aristotle
  • Church Fathers

5
The Medieval Order or The Great Chain of Being
  • God
  • Pope and Kings
  • Priests and Nobles
  • Men
  • Women
  • Children
  • Animals
  • Plants
  • Rocks

6
Explaining Change Medieval Style
  • Gods intervention deus ex machina
  • Storms ruin crops you get sick God is angry
  • Harvest is plentiful you have lots of children
    God is pleased

7
Explaining ChangeMedieval Style
  • Magic some occult force
  • You dont have children you are bewitched
  • Your house burns down someone put a curse on you
  • You get sick your enemy is a witch

8
Scientific Revolution bringsa new way of
thinking about the world around usand our
relationship to the world.


9
Structure of Scientific Revolution
  • People start asking questions and make
    discoveries which raise problems for the existing
    world view.
  • As more and more discoveries challenge the
    accepted cosmology, more people ask more
    questions.
  • Finally, someone synthesizes all the pieces into
    a new world view.
  • See Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific
    Revolutions.

10
16th 17th Century Questioners
  • Methodology
  • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
  • Observe Experiment
  • Develop Hypothesis
  • Test More Observation Experiments
  • William Harvey (1578-1657)
  • Anatomical Studies demonstrate circulation of
    blood

11
Challenges to the Old Cosmology
  • Reliance on Observation Causes Trouble
  • Galileo (Italian, 1564-1642)
  • Observations confirmed heliocentric universe
  • Arrested and ordered to recant
  • Whats the problem?

12
A New Philosophy
  • Descartes (French, 1596-1650)
  • Radical Doubt
  • Cogito, ergo sumI think, therefore I am.
  • Impact of this insight?

13
New Understanding of Human Mind
  • John Locke, English, 1632-1704
  • Essay Concerning Human Understanding
  • Human Mind is a tabula rasa at birth
  • We learn by experience
  • Impact of this concept?

14
By 1690
  • New Method Scientific Method
  • Trust in Sense Knowledge
  • Heliocentric Cosmology
  • New Philosophy
  • New Understanding of Human Body
  • New Understanding of Human Mind

15
Synthesis Isaac Newton
  • English, 1642-1727
  • Mathematician and Alchemist
  • Principia
  • Solved the problem of motion
  • World is not static but constantly in motion!
  • Describes gravity
  • Impact?

16
Newtons World
  • A giant machine whose parts work together
  • God the maker of the machine
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com